Corruption
by dylan.h.merritt
Summary: People take their freedom for granted. They forget what pain, despair, and hate mean. One day, the world was reminded of what life is really like. They try to find a target, someone to blame. They chose a little boy, and they ruined his life. This is a story about a boy, with a thirst for vengeance. He will stop at nothing to obtain it.
1. Chapter 1

The world was peaceful. People were equal, every one had the same status. It was a utopia for some. There were no longer any wars, not since the United Nations came to a world wide peace treaty agreement. The cause was the nuclear warfare between the United States and Korea in the year 2014. Once the conflict resolved, there were no winners, both countries were devastated with economic and physical loss. The United Nations' decision pulled the United states out of debt, and restored Korea to its former glory. Eventually all nuclear weapons in the world were disarmed and disposed of. The reservations released their Native American captives and allowed them to be citizens with equal rights. People were able to travel freely through out the world with out question, this helped diminish racism and prejudice. By the year 2020, the world had quickly become a utopia. The world was perfect, until "it" happened.

On December 25, 2031, the world once again remembered what pain and despair was. It was cruelly reminded that nothing is perfect.

A shockwave shook the earth, causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on the eastern hemisphere of the Earth. The eastern continents were thrown into complete and utter chaos. People being killed left and right, hardly any were spared from their imminent demise. This was the day that the people of Earth woke up from their false dream of safety and perfection, and in the center of it all, was a small boy with white hair. This is his story.

The current date was December 19, 2041, ten years after the event that had shaken the Earth. A wall had been built as a border to keep people on the eastern hemisphere from crossing over into the utopian society of the western continents. It surrounded the entire planet. Some people welcomed the wall, others would risk their lives trying to find a way over it. If they ever did make it to the top, they were instantly shot and killed by the cleaners. The cleaners were apart of an organization known as Ouroboros. It ruled the west with an iron fist.

The day had begun as everyday had in the barren wasteland of the east, nicknamed Hell's Gates. People woke up and lived their miserable lives, trying to survive, barely scraping by.

There was one boy who didn't live life the same as others. He was an 18 year old boy named Zeke. He was different in many ways. He looked different, he had white hair and red eyes. This caused him to be ridiculed by the other eastern citizens. His most distinguishing quality was his powers. He could manifest some sort of energy and cover his arms with it. It only took one shape though; the shape of demon claws. Among the list of powers were his extreme speed and superhuman strength.

Zeke hated his power. He was looked down upon by people. People he could easily slaughter, however that wasn't his goal. His goal was to find out about his powers. Where they originated and why he was chosen to have them. He needed to find out, so that he may take out his revenge on them. He wanted to get revenge for his parents, the parents he killed with his dreaded power. It still haunts him to this day, the image of their screaming faces.

It happened about five years after the "event". Zeke was a 13 year old boy, young and spry, but not happy. He was constantly being bullied by the others kids. One day, he snapped and punched one of the kids square in the face. At the time he didn't know he had insane strength. The kid's face was caved in, as he was lying there on the ground dead, face beaten to a bloody pulp. Zeke stared at the kid mortified. He had killed someone, at the age of 13. The other kids ran in fear, onlookers just staring, not trying to punish him, for fear of their own demise set in.

Zeke later walked home. When he opened the door to his dilapidated house, it made a painful squeal that he hated. Before Zeke could react he was smacked in the face by his mom. She had tears in her eyes from crying. She had heard the news of what had happened, word seemed to travel quickly in the small town. Zeke was stunned that his mom had hit him, this was the first time she had ever done so. His shock turned to rage when his mom smacked him again and called him a devil child. He couldn't believe his mom was doing this. He thought she loved him.

Zeke's mom went to smack him again, but he caught her hand and squeezed tightly. His mom called him a devil again, so he squeezed harder on her wrist, he didn't realize just how hard. The momentary quiet of the room was broken when the air was filled with a snapping sound. The source was Zeke's mother's wrist. He had snapped the bones in half. He cringed at the sound and let her wrist go. She was screaming in agony. He told her to stop screaming, but to no avail. She didn't have the pain tolerance Zeke had. She stopped screaming for a moment to say one thing."Zeke, you're a monster! A being straight from Hell!" Zeke snapped and lost control, his powers spiked. This was the first instance of his demon claws showing up.

Before Zeke knew what he was doing, he had slashed his mom across the chest with his claws, blood splattered all over the walls of the dilapidated old house. Zeke's father picked up a steel pipe and tried to hit him with it, but with one swift motion of his hand, the pipe was cut in half and his father's neck was sliced wide open. Blood sprayed all over Zeke's face, he didn't seem to mind. His eyes were a shade of red that he had never seen before, it was as if they were glowing with hatred. He did not cry, but that did not mean the sadness wasn't there, he chose to cover it up with hate and despair. From that day on, Zeke vowed to get revenge on the person who gave him his powers, because he knew he couldn't have been born this way. Someone had to have caused it.

Zeke was sitting on top of a decrepit building. He was staring emotionlessly at the horizon. From his current position, he could see over the wall. Seeing the perfect buildings retaining their geometric shape sickened Zeke. He wanted everyone to be equal, he didn't want the world to be separated by a wall. The main reason he didn't like the wall, was the fact that the person who gave him his powers is most likely on the other side. If he was going to fulfill his goals, he was going to have to get over the wall.

"Well, no use worrying about it right now. I would have to find a safe way over it first. I'm getting hungry, I might as well go get some food." Zeke talked to him self. That was a habit he developed. No one would ever talk to him, and he wasn't going to go mute. So he decided to start talking to himself. He's done it for as long as he could remember.

Zeke jumped down from the three story building, a feat no normal human would survive, but Zeke wasn't normal. It was no problem for him. He landed gracefully on the ground, a cloud of dust rising up as his boots hit the surface. He looks around and grimaces at the sight of the world. He truly hates what it has become, but not as much as the hate he feels for the person who plagued him with this accursed power.

"Hmph! This place really is a shitty hell hole." Zeke scoffs as he puts his hands in the pockets of his black, sleeveless trenchcoat. He kicks a nearby can into a wall, the dull metal making a metallic thud when it impacted the wall.

Zeke started walking in the direction of the market. He would have to deal with scowling faces, the occasional random flying object hurled at his head, and the most famous word people liked to call him. Monster. It was a dull word to Zeke, he didn't find much point or meaning behind it. He's only been a monster once in his life: the day he took the lives of three people. An innocent boy, and his very own parents. He realized that there is an evil inside him. He tries his best to keep it hidden, but sometimes it gets triggered by his emotions, so he tries to stay as emotionless as possible. Not for his sake, but for those around him. He lived and survived by staying out of the way of others. That way he wouldn't upset anyone and in turn they won't upset him. Its a win, win for Zeke.

Zeke continued to walk towards the market, he kept his guard up just in case they do try to pull something. There was always a chance that they would. It wasn't a scary thing, it just annoys Zeke that people try to hurt him, even though they know they can't. Normal people do the most pointless things just to hurt others. To Zeke it is a trivial matter.

Zeke finally walked into the market, only to be met with angry scowls and leering children. He ignored their gazes and went to a food stand. The owner glared at Zeke as he walked up. Zeke noticed that he sells the cigarettes he usually smokes. He might as well buy a pack before he leaves. He doesn't know how long he will be on the road before he sees any signs of civilization again

"I would like a food ration pack, and some cigarettes." Zeke told the man uninterestedly, awaiting the condescending remarks.

"I don't like selling to criminals, but if it gets you out of my hair, I guess it wouldn't hurt." The man said as he pulled out a package and a pack of cigarettes. He gave the goods to Zeke, in return Zeke paid the man and walked away.

"Well, that was anticlimactic. I was expecting a few insults. I guess that guy was having a good day." Zeke said to himself. He opened up his pack of cigarettes and took one out. He put it in his mouth and pulled out his lighter. It took a few tries but it eventually lit. He inhaled, then exhaled, a stream of smoke escaping his lips. He enjoyed the sensation smoking gave him, it helped deal with the stress he held.

Zeke continued to walk out of the market. It was a surprisingly peaceful walk. No one tried to mame him or insult him. It was a little mysterious, but Zeke chose to ignore it. He didn't want to pry into something that wasn't necessarily wrong.

Zeke was jolted from his peaceful walk by a terrifying scream. It came from the alley a few feet in front of him. It sounded like a female. He continued to walk forward until he was at the entrance of the alley. In the alley was a group of men sexually harassing a young girl around Zeke's age. The girl looked over and her eyes met with Zeke's. She was crying, and trying to push the man off of her, she was trying desperately not to get raped. He got angry and ripped her clothes off. Her body was bare and the men took the opportunity to grope her. Zeke closed his eyes and kept walking.

"She would be better off if I didn't get involved. I don't want to be the one to ruin her life, better those men than me." Zeke tried to ignore her screams. He was going to have nightmares tonight.

"Zeke! Please help me! Please!" The girl screamed. She was apparently desperate for help, if she was calling on Zeke.

Zeke tried his hardest to keep walking, but his conscience got the best of him. He took one more puff of his cigarette, and tossed it. He walked back to the alley. The men were about to violate her.

"Hey! You guys should find a girl more your age. Leave her alone." Zeke told the men, they laughed and stood up.

"Well. Well. Well. If it isn't Zeke. What the fuck do you think you're doing interfering with our fun?" The first man said as he charged Zeke.

"I pity people like you. You should just die." Zeke said as he summoned his energy claws. He quickly slashed the man across his chest as he dodged his punch.

The man fell to the ground with a thud. Blood was spewing out of his gut. The other men fled in fear. Zeke retracted his claws and stared at the man on the ground. He scoffed and walked towards the nude girl.

"Are you ok? They didn't hurt you did they?" Zeke asked the girl. He extended his hand to help the girl up. She surprisingly took it and got up.

"No, they didn't. Thank you for saving me Zeke." The girl said as she covered her chest and lower regions with her arms.

"I don't want you to get sick, here you go." Zeke said as he took off his trenchcoat and gave it to the girl.

"Thank you Zeke." The girl said as she put on the coat. It was big on her but it covered everything pretty well. The girl looked at Zeke and blushed when she saw his shirtless body. She couldn't help but stare.

"So, what's your name?" Zeke asked calmly to stir the girl from her daydream.

"Uhm, its, Saya."


	2. Chapter 2

"So, your name is Saya. It's a nice name." Zeke said to the black haired girl that was sitting on the ground. Her face was still stained from the tears she had shed only minutes ago.

"Thank you. I also want to thank you for saving me. If you hadn't came when you did, I-I would've been raped by those men." Saya started to tear up again. She was still in shock from the whole affair.

"Oh yeah, about that, why would you call someone like me for help. You do know who I am don't you?" Zeke asked as he crouched down to eye level with Saya.

Saya looked into Zeke's red eyes, with her green ones. He looked so harmless with his curious gaze. "Yes I do know who you are, and honestly, all those people who say those things about you are idiots. I've seen you help people plenty of times. To tell you the truth, I've always kind of thought you were kind of..." Saya stopped talking and started to blush. She couldn't let Zeke know she had a crush on him.

"If you are going to say kind, or brave, then you're wrong. I was originally planning to ignore you and walk away. My conscience, however, had other plans." Zeke said as he downcast his eyes. He was staring at his hands.

"I knew you would come back, you are too caring to let an innocent person be degraded in such a way. Well at least I like to think that." Saya said as she leaned forward enough to look into his eyes again.

"You are weird. People normally try to avoid me on a regular basis. Why do you put up with being anywhere near me? I'm a monster according to everyone else." Zeke said as he clenched his fist tightly. He truly didn't find any meaning to that word, but that didn't mean it took the venomous sting out of it.

"Don't say that, you are not a monster! I see through that tough exterior to who you really are. You were just dealt a bad hand in life." Saya put a hand over Zeke's and grasped it. "These aren't the hands of a cold-blooded killer, these are the hands of hope, and the future. You try to help the innocent, yet they push you away." Saya spoke as if she'd known Zeke her whole life. She showed him that she cares.

"Oh yeah, what do you know about me? For all you know, I could be planning to rape you for myself. I could be a cold hearted bastard and kill you." Zeke said with spite in his voice.

"I know enough. Ever since we were little, I've looked up to you. I was there the day you killed that boy. I remember hearing the news that you killed your parents. I also remember how you looked after you did so. You had a pure look of hate, but deep down I sensed sadness, and guilt. I also saw you visit your parents' grave everyday after the funeral. I remember you placing a single flower on their grave. Truth be told, I had a bit of a...of a...crush on you. I also envied you. Through all of the bullying, you stayed strong and stood up for yourself. What I'm trying to say is you may have done a few questionable things, but you spend your life trying to repent for them. I understand you." Saya said in a calming tone. She hoped it would make Zeke feel better. She didn't like seeing him upset.

"How can you possibly understand what I've been through?" Zeke said sadly, his hand still felt cold, even underneath of Saya's warm, caring hands.

"Well, I guess I can relate to you. I've been treated harshly my whole life. My parents abused me. They even tried to sell me off to some guy, just for a little bit of money. Naturally I ran away. I hated them. Then as I wondered around homeless, people came up with so many harsh things to say. Then when it came to the point I had to beg for food, men would ask to use my body as payment. It was as if I never escaped my fate of being a slave." Saya explained, her eyes immediately becoming cold and dead looking. All light had faded from them.

"Well, did the men ever receive their payment?" Zeke asked with a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"No, I refused, so naturally I went hungry. Occasionally I would find someone nice enough." Saya said with a bit more lively tone.

"Well then, you should be happy. You didn't degrade yourself, you stood up for what you believed. You look pretty well kept for a homeless person. Your hair is a little dull, and dirty, but nothing a refreshing shower won't fix." Zeke said as he reached out and grabbed some of Saya's hair. She started blushing again.

"What do you mean?" Saya asked, a bit confused at what Zeke had said. She wondered if he was hinting towards something.

"I mean that you are no longer homeless, you can come along with me. I have a place near here where I would go and hide if the resident bullies would pick on me. I was planning on going right through to the next town, but I guess I can stay here for a while." Zeke said with a slight smile on his face.

"Really?! You are going to take me with you?" Saya asked astonished. She never expected Zeke to take her with him. She thought she was dreaming.

"Yes, now we better get going, it will be dark soon." Zeke stood up and offered his hand to Saya. She took it and stood up.

Saya started to walk, but her legs gave out on her. Zeke caught her before she could fall. "It seems my legs decided to stop working. I guess my body is as excited as I am to be traveling with you." Saya said, embarrassed that she couldn't walk at the moment. She was blushing a deep shade of red.

"Well, I guess I'll carry you." Zeke picked Saya up bridal style. This only added to her embarrassment. She didn't want to keep relying on Zeke like that. She wanted to at least be able to walk on her own.

"So, how long will it take to get there?" Saya asked, trying to distract her self from Zeke's warmth. It was just so comforting. It made her feel safe.

"About half an hour. If we could take the scenic route, about five minutes." Zeke said, as he started to walk at a leisurely pace.

"What's the scenic route?" Saya asked curiously. If it was a scenic route, she would love to take it.

"The sky. We are going to go on top of the buildings." Zeke said, as he suddenly jumped with out warning. Saya screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Zeke, what the hell are you doing?!" Saya was clinging to Zeke, for fear of falling sunk into her psyche.

"I'm taking us on the scenic route." Zeke said with a big smile on his face, for once, he enjoyed having his powers. "Look!" Zeke said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Huh? Oh wow!" Saya looked at the setting sun. It really was a beautiful sight. This really was the scenic route.

Zeke landed on top of another building, temporarily hiding the sun from view, but he jumped just as soon as he landed. The sun came back into view, as he ascended. Saya was used to it now, she knew Zeke wouldn't drop her. He wasn't like that.

"I guess this is what people call star crossed love, or even love at first sight." Saya whispered to herself. She really had fallen in love with Zeke over the years. She knew he didn't feel the same.

"Huh? What was that?" Zeke asked. He had heard Saya say something. He was curious as to what she had said.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just happy for the first time in a while." She told the truth, but not necessarily the one Zeke had heard.

"Well, we are almost there." Zeke was looking off into the distance. In his line of site was a big, abandoned building.

"Wait you don't mean that shopping mall do you?" Saya said with surprise in her voice. She found it hard to believe, a loner like Zeke stays at a shopping mall. It seemed too flashy.

"Yeah, that's the place. It has everything you could need. Running water, spare clothes, and medical supplies. The only thing there is a lack of, is food. I bought a ration pack that would normally last me a week, but if we split it, it should last three to four days." Zeke was so willing to share his supplies, and luxuries with Saya. He wondered why he had taken a liking to her. He wondered why she was special.

"Wow, that sounds pretty nice. Thank you again, for bringing me along." Saya was going to have to repay his kindness somehow. She started thinking of ways she could do that.

"No problem. I have some things I want to ask you anyway." Zeke said casually as he landed by the entrance to the mall. He sat Saya on her feet, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a single key. He put it into the lock and turned it. He opened the door and walked in, with Saya in tow.

"Wow, it's so big, it must be nice to live here." Saya said as she looked around the interior amazed at how well the place was preserved. There was hardly any damage on the inside.

Zeke and Saya walked over to the stairs that lead to the second floor. Zeke seemed to know the place like the back of his hand. The first stop they made was to the spa.

"You can take a shower here, but first I should find you a spare change of clothes. Do you have any preferred color, or style?" Zeke asked as he looked around the mall. He had some fond memories of the place.

"Style doesn't matter, but I would prefer something in black or white." Saya suddenly had an idea. "Oh, and could you find me a bra and a pair of panties." Saya asked playfully.

" I guess, but it would make more sense if you-"

"Thank you, make sure they are sexy, anything you think would look good on me would be fine." Saya said as she walked into the spa.

Zeke sighed, and walked off. "I barely even know this girl and she's already bossing me around like she's my girlfriend or something. I don't even know her cup size, or waist line. Man, how did I get dragged into this?" Zeke asked himself.

Zeke walked over to a girls clothing store. He stared at the store for a few seconds before walking in. When he walked in he was immediately confused as to what he should get Saya.

"Well, I guess it is my fault. I did volunteer to go get her clothes. I guess I should get the hard part out of the way. To the bra and panties section it is. Why does it feel so perverted to say that?" Zeke walked over to the bras first.

Zeke looked around the bras for something that would fit Saya. He had to go off looks, but he knew Saya had a larger bust than most girls he saw.

"Why do I feel so wrong thinking about Saya's bra size? Well anyways, I'm assuming she wears a D-cup." Zeke said to himself as he started filing through the D-cups. He noticed they had numbers beside the D. "What?! They have specific numbers too. Why the hell does this have to be so complicated? Well, I guess I'll just choose one." Zeke randomly pulled a black bra off the rack. He really hoped he picked the right size, he didn't want to make another trip to the bra section any time soon.

"Alright, next are the panties. This is going to be embarrassing. Good thing no ones around to see me rooting through panties. It would ruin my reputation, oh wait, my reputation is already bad. Why do I have the feeling people expect me to be the kind of guy that enjoys looking through girl's underwear?" Zeke said to him self as he was looking through a pile of panties. He tried to find a matching pair to the bra he had picked out. "Aha! Found you, you little bastard!" Zeke pulled out a black pair of panties identical to the bra he had found. They seemed a little small for Saya. She would have to make due.

Zeke hurriedly picked out a pair of black jeans and a white T-shirt. He didn't waste anytime getting out of the store as quick as possible. When he got back he would tell Saya to go instead of him next time.

It didn't take long for Zeke to get back to the spa. He heard the water running. "She must still be in the shower. I'll just lay these out side of the shower door." Zeke walked into the spa and found the showers. He located the one Saya was currently using and placed the clothes on a nearby bench. He sat down too and laid his head against the wall. He slowly dozed off.

Zeke was in a dream, more of a memory, from his past. The dream was about how he killed his parents. He was shaking, and muttering in his sleep. He started to sweat, and cry at the same time.

Saya heard him muttering and got out of the shower. She saw him on the bench. His face was distorted with what looked like fear and anger mixed together. There were tears on his face, so Saya assumed it was a nightmare.

Saya debated on waking him up, but she didn't like seeing him this way. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder, and shook him a little bit. "Zeke, wake up. Zeke!" Saya shook Zeke a little harder this time.

Zeke shot awake screaming. He startled Saya, enough to where she fell back. "What the hell? Not that dream again. Are you ok?" Zeke looked over at Saya. He could see everything because of the position she was in. He quickly looked away to hide the crimson color that came to his face. "You might want to get dressed."

"Why are you looking away? I don't mind if you look, just so long as its you. If it's you then I don't mind." Saya said as she too started blushing.

"Please get dressed. We need to be going soon. I don't know if what I got fits, so sorry in advance if it doesn't." Zeke said with his head still turned away from Saya.

Saya stood up and looked at the clothes. She picked up the panties and looked at them. "Well, well, well. Who would've thought you were into such slutty clothes." Saya said as she put the panties on. They were a perfect fit

"What do you mean slutty?" Zeke asked, curiosity in his voice. He still didn't look towards Saya.

"Well you got me a thong, not panties. That's ok though. If that's what you are into, then I don't mind." Saya said teasingly. She knew he didn't know what he was doing. She thought if she teased him a bit, maybe he would open up a bit.

"Sorry, I didn't know. They all looked the same to me. " Zeke admitted shamefully. He had no idea what he was buying. She couldn't have expected any less.

Saya laughed a bit, then put the rest of the clothes on. They all fit her just perfectly. She would have to ask how he did it later, but right now, she wanted to explore the mall a bit more.

"Hey can we-" Saya was cut off by Zeke putting a finger up to his lips, signalling to be quiet. He must have sensed or heard something.

"Get down!" Zeke yelled as he pushed Saya down to the ground. Right when he did, a laser shot through the room, and hit the wall in the spot in where Saya's head would have been. "Who ever this is, must be a pro. X-ray scope, and deep penetrating laser rounds. He has us pinned. That could only mean one person, the infamous Cleaner for hire. He kills anyone if the price is right, and he's damn good at it too. No ones ever seen his face. The question is, why is he targeting us?"

"I'm targeting you, because mister Cred Pure wants you dead!" A voice echoed through the mall. It was impossible to pinpoint exactly where it came from. This guy wasn't playing around.

"Cred?! What the fuck?! Why does the leader or Ouroboros want me dead?!" Zeke yelled loudly. He was sure the man could hear him.

"I try not to ask questions. I get paid, then I kill some unlucky bastard such as yourself."

The mysterious man shot another round. Zeke was able to get Saya out of the way, but the shot grazed his shoulder. The laser burnt his skin to a crisp. He couldn't help but scream in pain. However, he wasn't going to let Saya get hurt, so he sucked it up.

"I will protect her. I will protect her. I will protect her." Zeke said to himself over and over as he and Saya ran from the laser rounds. "I will protect her!"

Saya was was struggling to keep up with Zeke. He was practically dragging her behind him. Every so often he would make her duck to dodge a shot.

"Zeke! What's going on?!" Saya asked. It sounded like she was out of breath. The running was really taking it out of her.

"I don't know! This has never happened before! I have no idea why any of this is happening!" Zeke had raised his voice. It must be due to the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

Saya and Zeke turned a corner, it lead to a dead end. They tried to turn around and go back, but behind them, was none other than the source of this mayhem.

"This chase was fun. For entertaining me, I will give you my name. It is Willem Z. At your service. Now this is sadly where you die." Willem said as he pointed his sniper at Saya and shot. He had switched to conventional ammo.

Zeke quickly jumped in front of the round. It pierced his stomach instead of Saya. The shot was strong enough to knock him back into a wall.

"No! Zeke!" Saya screamed in peril as she went to his side. There was blood gushing out of Zeke's stomach. Saya tried to stop the blood by applying pressure to the wound.

Zeke wasn't moving, and Saya had a sniper pointed at her head. "Is this, really how it ends? I didn't even get to do the things I wanted to do with Zeke. I couldn't even tell him, that I loved him, ever since we were kids."

"That's too bad, I truly do feel for you. However, it's time to die."


	3. Chapter 3

"It's time to die, little girl. I can't leave a witness. If you've seen my face, I can't let you live." The man with dark brown hair said with a cold look in his eyes. His eyes weren't normal. One was a deep ocean blue, the other was yellow.

"Please! You don't have to do this! What did Zeke ever do to you?! You don't have to kill us!" Saya pleaded with despair in her heart. She didn't want her life to end in such a pathetic way. She wanted to die happily with Zeke.

"Sorry, it was an order. I can't disobey an order. Besides, I'm getting paid a shit ton of money for this. It wasn't even a challenge. I almost feel bad for killing such helpless prey. It's pathetic." Willem deadpanned. He seemed genuinely upset at the anticlimactic experience. He enjoyed the hunt more than the killing itself.

Willem pointed his rifle at Saya. He put the scope up to the yellow eye. His finger lightly held the trigger. Then in a split second, he shot at Saya's head without a second thought. He waited for the sound of blood and brain matter hitting the walls, but the gruesome splat never came.

"What?" Saya was looking at the back of a giant claw. She could see smoke rising from the center. It had blocked the bullet. She suddenly heard a burning sound. She looked around to find the source. She was shocked to find out that the sound was coming from Zeke's stomach. The wound was rapidly healing.

"So, you want a challenge? Well then, let's play!" Zeke spoke with excitement in his voice as he stood up. He had a wicked smile on his face. His eyes had a murderous glow in them. He had claws on both of his hands now, and they seemed bigger.

"Really, you are going to give me a challenge? That's a laugh! Just a second ago you were slumped up against a wall bleeding out." Willem mocked Zeke, which only made his malicious grin that much bigger.

"Hahaha! You know, I don't really like it when people try to steal or break precious things of mine. If you ask me, you had this coming, but I'll be nice and let you go free if you back off." Zeke placed a threat in that message. He was not in the mood to be putting up with Willem at the moment.

"Oh really? Fat chance that's gonna happen. I never fail at a job, and I never will. Bring it on!" Willem challenged Zeke. Zeke obliged with no hesitation.

Willem quickly pulled up his rifle, but by the time he did, Zeke was already too close. Zeke slashed at Willem, but he managed to dodge it, his chest got some minor scratches on it however.

"That long ranged rifle isn't so good on a close range target if it's moving. That's one disadvantage you should've thought of." Zeke said cockily. He was positive he had already won.

"I always come prepared. You should know that." Willem spoke as he put the sniper on his back. It clipped into place, and he pulled out two pistols. One was white with sky blue crosses on it, the other was black with blood red crosses. They were big enough to be miniature cannons.

"Touche, but how well can you use those hand cannons on a target with extreme speed." Zeke lunged at Willem at a speed that made him look like nothing but a blur.

Willem countered by pressing both pistols to Zeke's stomach. He unloaded his guns into Zeke, which seemingly worked, but Zeke got back up again. All the rounds Willem fired were pushed out of Zeke's stomach as he regenerated again.

" It seems like you are going to be pretty hard to kill. Just the way I like it. I should switch to some more potent ammunition." Willem let the clips fall out of his guns, and with one swift motion, he reloaded them with rounds that had extremely lethal acid in the tips.

"You think that will work? Pathetic." Zeke charged at Willem again, who quickly fired two shots. Zeke dodged them easily, but wasn't prepared for the next four shots. A shot hit each shoulder and two hit Zeke in the stomach.

Zeke laughed maniacally as he regenerated, but this time it was stopped by the acid. "What the hell?!" Zeke could barely move now. His regeneration wasn't working for some reason.

"Haha! I figured it would be hard to kill you, so I used my acidic rounds. I normally use them in case of an emergency, but I think this qualifies. You see, your regeneration has a set pace, but my potent acid destroys your bodily tissue quicker than you can regenerate it, rendering that handy ability of yours useless. Granted my acid has a set time of effectiveness, but you will be died long before that time." Willem took aim at the crippled Zeke, who was helpless in this situation.

"Stop! Please don't kill him!" Saya ran in front of Zeke. She couldn't stand by and watch him be killed. It was her turn to save him.

"Move it you dumb girl. I would like it if you stood in line to be killed." Willem's communicator rang as he was about to shoot at Saya. "Damn it! What the fuck could it possibly be."

Willem answered the communicator with a look of disdain on his face. He started talking to an unknown voice on the other end. He apparently didn't like what he was hearing due to the fact that he was screaming.

"Fuck it! I'll talk to you later!" Willem ended that call and looked at Zeke with disgust in his eyes. "You got lucky you jackass! The hit has been called off. Turns out you are more valuable alive. You're lucky I'm still getting paid, or I would've killed you anyway." Willem scowled. He turned around and started walking away.

"Cocky bastard, you shouldn't turn your back on an enemy like that." Zeke tried standing up, but his injuries prevented him from doing so. He collapsed on the ground and blacked out. He started to dream.

***Zeke's Dream***

The year was 2030. Zeke was in an empty playground playing by himself. He had just gotten beat up by a group of bullies. His face was covered in bruises and dried up blood. He was seven at the time.

"Those big meanies, I'll get payback someday." Zeke was talking to himself. He was kicking a can around. Unbeknownst to him, a young girl was watching him from a distance.

"They made fun of my hair and called me a freak." Zeke noticed a pair of scissors that a kid had left behind earlier in the day. He walked over and picked them up. "I should just cut it off, and be done with it." Zeke was about to clip his hair with the scissors, before he was interrupted.

"No! Don't! Your hair is pretty. Don't cut it off." The girl who had previously been watching had spoken up.

"Who are you?" Zeke asked curiously. He thought he was alone.

"My name is Saya, and your name is Zeke. Nice to meet you." Saya said with pep. Zeke noticed she had a bruise on your cheek.

"What happened to your cheek?"

"Oh, my daddy hit me earlier. He said I was being a bad girl, and that I deserved it. I left him alone and walked here. Now here we are talking to each other." Saya said with a big smile on her face.

"How can you smile about that? You're weird." Zeke said without thinking. He was immediately going to apologize, but Saya interrupted him again.

"It's ok, you're weird too. I try to smile as much as I can, so that I can push away all the bad." Saya said with that same toothy grin.

"That doesn't make sense. Smiling won't make the mean bullies go away." Zeke had turned his gaze to the ground.

"Well then, we should stick together to cheer each other up. Forever and ever." Saya had ran over and grabbed Zeke's hand. He had started blushing.

Zeke clutched her hand and smiled. "Yeah, forever and ever."

***Dream end***

Zeke woke up in a bed. He looked around and saw a bunch of other beds. He must've been in the furniture store. He tried sitting up, but a sharp pain throbbed through out his body. He clasped his shoulder, but pulled his hand away when he felt bandages on it.

"Good morning. Try not to move too much. I managed to stitch the wounds shut, but if you move they may rip open again." Saya said as she walked up to the bed side. She had a plastic bag in her hand.

Zeke sat up slowly. "What's that?" He pointed at the bag.

"Just some drinks and food. I figured you be hungry when you woke up." Saya said with a smile. This caused Zeke to remember his dream and blush.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Zeke took a water bottle out of the bag and opened it. He chugged the whole bottle in one go. The fight had taken a lot out of him, so it was normal for him to be parched.

"Wow, thirsty much?" Saya joked.

"Yeah, I guess I was. By the way, how long was I out?" Zeke was wondering how long it had been. It didn't seem too long, but he had to make sure.

Saya's face turned serious. "Three days." She said it plainly.

"What?! That long?!" Zeke was shocked. Why was he out so long?

"Zeke, I want you to tell me something. Was that you fighting, or someone else?" Saya had a dead serious look on her face.

"It was me, but it didn't feel right. I felt different, more powerful, more primal. I felt excited to fight, which isn't normal for me." Zeke looked at his hands. The feeling had vanished, he felt normal again.

"You weren't your self. You had this, maniacal look in your eye." Saya said as she started to fiddle with the bag. Zeke noticed the worry in her tone.

"Well, I'm normal now, so stop worrying." Zeke put a hand on her head and started rubbing it.

"That's good. I'm glad that your back. It scared me, seeing you like that." Saya had perked up a bit. Zeke took his hand away, and reached into the bag again for another bottled water.

"So what should we do today? I'm open for ideas." Zeke opened his bottle and took sips this time.

"You still need to rest. I'll take care of you in the mean time."

"I say we see a movie." Zeke ignored Saya and got out of the bed. He staggered at first, but he managed to stay upright.

"What are you doing? Get back in bed." Saya was worried that Zeke's wounds would open back up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Zeke tried reassuring Saya, but she wasn't having any of it. She tried pushing Zeke down to the bed.

"You need to rest. Lay down and let your wounds heal." Saya ordered Zeke around like he was some kind of trained puppy.

"Come on. One movie wouldn't hurt." Zeke pleaded one more time.

"It wouldn't hurt me, but you are a different story, however, I know you won't listen anyway, so one movie. That's it." Saya caved in. She agreed to the movie.

Zeke and Saya started walking towards the theater. Zeke would hobble and wobble every now and then. Saya would insist that she should help, but Zeke would shoo her away. It took longer than it should have to reach the theater.

"So, what movie do you want to watch?" Zeke asked curiously as he opened up the film storage room. There were piles upon piles of movies in the room. Saya started to look around until a single film caught her eye. The title was Nim's Island. On the cover of the film was a girl on an island, seemingly alone.

"Ahh, good choice. It was made back in 2008. It is a really good movie. So you want to watch this one?" Zeke spoke as if he were a movie expert. He seemed to like movies a lot.

"Yes. I do." Saya answered casually.

"Ok go find a seat in theater three. I will be there in a bit." Zeke took the film and walked out of the room. Saya walked out after him and headed towards theater three.

Saya had found a seat in the middle rows of the room. Meanwhile, Zeke had made it to the projector room. He put the film on the projector and connected all the little slips of film. When he was done he was about to press play, when out of no where a shadowy figure put its hand over Zeke's mouth and pulled him back.

"I am Einnor Deer. I have come to warn you of an impending disaster. If I were you I would leave as soon as the movie is over." Einnor disappeared as quickly as he came.

Zeke took heed to the warning, and went to join Saya in the theater. He kept his guard up for any unexpected dilemmas.

He enjoyed the movie with Saya, every now and then he would look around to see if anyone was there. Once they exited the theater, Zeke took one quick look around, when suddenly, the ground started shaking fiercely. The source, a big, menacing robot heading right toward Zeke and Saya.

" What the?! What now?! Can't I get a break?" Zeke asked as he took a defensive stance.

" I am Project: Juggernaut. I am not man, nor am I a robot. I am a mixture of both. I have the emotions and senses of a human, body of a machine. I am here to escort you to master Cred."


	4. Chapter 4

"Please don't try to resist. I would like to get this done quickly. The master does not like waiting. Also, some abbreviations of my name are Juggernaut, or PJ001." Juggernaut spoke with a cold mechanical voice.

"Damn it! First its a blood thirsty bounty hunter, then a ninja, now a robot. What's next, a zombie, or maybe even a vampire. Well I guess I shouldn't act so surprised. I have claws made out of pure energy, so I guess the fact that you exist isn't so outrageous. Anyways, what would happen if we decline your offer?" Zeke asked as calmly as he could. He tried to be intimidating, but it wasn't working. He was talking to a machine after all.

"Master told me that you can decline if you so choose, but that would mean you are against his cause. In that situation he would send Willem Z after you again."

"Of course. I'm not in the condition to fight. So I don't have much of a choice. Lead the way." Zeke agreed with sarcasm in his voice.

"Follow me. The girl can come as well. It will only take a few minutes to get there. I used the helicopter." Juggernaut started walking towards the stairs.

"We are right behind you." Zeke grabbed Saya's hand and pulled her along. She pulled her hand away, and looked Zeke in the eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Are you sure we should go with him? It seems like a bad idea." Saya had doubted their safety the moment Juggernaut showed up. The air around them felt eerie and tense.

"Saya, if we don't go, I will have to fight again, and I don't want to put you in anymore danger. Whether that danger be Willem, Juggernaut, or even, myself. I'm not in the condition to fight. I would lose, and you would be killed. This seems like the safest possibility. I have thought of a plan just in case it is a trap. So please try not to worry." Zeke reassured Saya. He tried to help her feel safe. He didn't want her to doubt him, so he lied to her about his plan. He didn't really have a plan if it was a trap they were heading into.

"I guess you're right. As long as I'm with you, I'm fine with it. Let's go." Saya grabbed Zeke's hand again, and they started following Juggernaut.

The group made it up the stairs. Zeke and Saya were shocked at what they saw. It was a state of the art helicopter, fully stocked with high caliber weaponry.

"Wow, seems a little overboard to come pick me up." Zeke spoke with little excitement in his voice. He couldn't care less, but he had to act ignorant so that Juggernaut didn't suspect him of anything. He didn't want him to get overly excited and start a fight.

"Get in." Juggernaut ordered in a semi polite tone.

Zeke helped Saya get in first, then he jumped in. Juggernaut followed suit right after, and the frame of the helicopter squealed under the massive weight of his body. Once everyone was strapped in the helicopter took off. Saya wasn't used to being so high up, so she clung to Zeke. He didn't mind as long as she wasn't worrying about trivial things.

"So, Juggy, where exactly are we headed?" Zeke asked nonchalantly. He didn't really care, he just didn't like the silence. If he wasn't talking to someone else, he was talking to himself, just to keep it from being silent.

"Please refrain from calling me Juggy. If you are going to shorten my name any further, please call me Jugg instead. Also, we are headed to the Ouroboros main building." Jugg stated coldly. He really didn't like the name Juggy for some reason.

"Really? What does Ouroboros want with me? Its a multinational company that pretty much owns and runs the world. Even the president doesn't have as much pull as they do. What possible use could they have for a low life like me?" Zeke degraded himself in hopes of finding the truth. If he put himself down, they would explain why he was important. Hopefully.

"You are not as much of a low life as you think. You are needed for the new experiment that Cred Pure is concocting. You are in fact the key. You are as Master Cred says, "his best invention ever."." Jugg put air quotes around the last part of the sentence. Zeke was in pure shock, not that Jugg took the bait, but by the fact he was invented.

"What do you mean by invention?" Zeke asked wide eyed and scared.

"You were born from a chosen couple selected for perfect reproduction. They had perfect compatibility, and so their spawn would be perfect as well. You have exactly fifty percent DNA from each parent. Then once you were born, you were killed, then brought back, effectively making you immortal in the process. Then you were tested on, until you showed signs of superhuman capabilities. This is when you gained your powers. After that we put a cap on your powers. They would only show up when you were filled with feelings of rage and hate. You were then set loose into the world with a couple who were looking to adopt." Jugg explained, unemotional.

"What the fuck do you mean?! I am immortal, but I can be shot. I almost died a few days ago. None of this makes sense!" Zeke freaked out. He finally figured out who gave him his powers.

"That was a test to see if it's really you. You have incredibly high regeneration speed, and if a person does find a way past your regeneration, your powers will automatically eliminate the target before any real damage is done. Its a defense mechanism. You also have a life span twenty times that of a normal human. You will also stop aging at the age of twenty one. You will be young for about two thousand years, then you will start to age normally." Jugg explained with as much detail as possible. Saya was wide eyed in shock. She didn't know what to make of the situation.

"I lived most of my life, trying to find the one who gave me my powers, so I could get revenge for my parents, but here I am, finding out that they weren't my real parents. Also, my real parents took part in the experiments that ruined my life." Zeke had started crying. He was shaking uncontrollably. He grabbed his head and started rocking back and forth.

"Zeke." Saya tried to grab his hand but he smacked it away.

"Get the fuck off me! I'm a fucking monster! This is bullshit!" Zeke hit the side of the helicopter. He put a hole in the metal. His hand got stuck, so he ripped it out, the metal shredded his hand. Blood splatter over the walls of the helicopter.

"Zeke!" Saya went to grab his hand again, but she stopped once she heard the familiar burning sound. Zeke's hand was healing itself. He grimaced at the sight.

"You can ask Master Cred any questions you like. We have reached our location anyways." The helicopter landed on a helipad, and the passengers exited. Zeke was the last to get off. He was still staring at his hand. When he finally got off he walked right past Saya, face full of confusion and hatred.

When the group entered the building there was a really long hallway with a door at the end. They started walking down the hallway. Saya was staring at Zeke for the longest time. He finally noticed and she quickly turned away.

"What is it? Do you have something to say?" Zeke asked calmly, but the words sounded struggled. It seemed like he could practically choke on them. She's never seen Zeke seem so small and helpless.

"Zeke, I want you to know I'm always here for you, and that there's more to life than revenge." Saya grabbed Zeke's hand. He quickly yanked it away.

"I don't need to hear that from stupid, empty headed girl like you. I live for revenge and nothing else. Without revenge, I have no reason to live. If you don't like that, then just leave and don't come back." Zeke said emotionlessly. He didn't show any signs of regret after saying those words.

Saya's jaw dropped, and tears filled her eyes. She ran back to the exit, whimpering. She couldn't believe Zeke would say something like that. She found some stares that lead down to the ground floor. She started running down them, still crying.

"That dumb jerk! He didn't have to go and say something like that. I thought he cared, but I guess I was wrong. I am a fool for thinking he would ever love me." Saya made it to the ground level, and walked away from the building. She looked around, and was genuinely amazed at how amazing the place looked. She had never been on the other side of the wall.

Saya wiped her face to get rid of the tears. "This place is beautiful, nothing like Hell's Gates." Saya looked around some more until she spotted a bar. It was well kept, and seemed busy. "Maybe I just need a drink."

Saya walked into the bar and was met with a bunch of curious glares. The people seemed civilized, unlike the guys in bars on the other side.

Saya walked up to the counter. "I'd like a scotch on the rocks please." Says wasn't interested in those fruity drinks other girls drink. She liked the burning sensation whiskey or scotch gave her.

"You look like you had a bad day miss. Can I ask what troubles you?" The man said as he pulled out a glass and a bottle. He threw two ice cubes in the glass, and poured the contents of the bottle into the glass.

Saya grabbed the glass and took a sip. "I just had a bad experience on my way to meeting Cred Pure. I don't want to get into too much detail." Saya said as she took another drink.

"You were going to meet Cred Pure. In that case your drinks are on the house. You must be an important lady if you were going to meet him." The bartender said with a smile.

"Apparently I'm not as important as I thought." Saya whispered to herself, so the bartender didn't hear.

Saya finished her first drink then quickly downed another, and then another. She went through a total of six drinks in three minutes. She was starting to get light headed and dizzy.

"Ma'am I think you should slow down." The bartender looked at Saya in disbelief. He never saw anyone down so match scotch in such a short amount of time.

"One more and I'm done." Saya picked up her glass and motioned for another drink. Saya started thinking about Zeke. How he used to be. How he used to be so innocent and gentle.

The bartender filled up her drink one more time, and she downed it quickly. She got up from the counter and walked out of the bar. She started thinking more and more about Zeke. She shook her head to get rid of her thoughts about him.

"If that jackass wants to get himself killed, I say let him." Saya's eyes shot wide open at the realization of what she just said. "Zeke said he no longer has a reason to live, so he's going to get himself killed. He's going to do something stupid. That's why he said those things to me, so I didn't have to see him die. I have to stop him."

Saya started running back to the Ouroboros building. She stumbled every now and then, she didn't think walking would be that hard after a few drinks.

"Hold on Zeke I'm coming."

Zeke and Jugg made it to the end of the hallway. Jugg put his hand on the scanner. Once the scanner confirmed his identity the door opened to reveal a waiting room. In the room was Willem, and one other person Zeke didn't know.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. My old pal Zeke." Willem walked over to Zeke and put his arm around his shoulders.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Zeke looked at Willem with a murderous look in his eyes. He wasn't in the mood nor condition to deal with Willem.

"Or what?" Willem mocked Zeke.

"Or this!" Zeke grabbed Willem's arm and threw him to the ground, then summoned his energy claws. He put the claws to Willem's throat.

"Stop this foolishness now!" Jugg demanded.

"Hell no! This bastard deserves to die!" Zeke prepared to strike, but Jugg tackled him. He flew into a nearby wall. When he hit, the impact caused a crater to be put into the wall.

Willem stood up and rubbed his shoulder. He walked over to Zeke and yanked him up by his coat collar. He got in his face.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Zeke looked into Willem's eyes, with a pure look of disgust on his face. Willem pulled his fist back, and was about to punch Zeke in the face, when his first was stopped by the unknown person in the room.

"Stop this Willem, he's not the enemy." The man had spoke as if he were a gentleman. He had a black suit and tie on. He had black slicked back hair and hazel eyes.

"Fine! Have it your way Azazel." Willem released Zeke, and walked back to the spot he was previously standing.

Zeke stood up and brushed himself off and stood on the opposite side of the room. Azazel walked over to Zeke and extended his hand.

"I'm Azazel, I'm an executive of the company. Sorry for my friend over there. He's pretty high up the food chain here so try not to tick him off too much. Also, its nice to meet you mister Zeke." Zeke looked at Azazel's hand, and decided to shake it. Once the formalities were over, they got to business.

"Why did you bring me here exactly?" Zeke asked sternly.

"All questions will be answered once you meet master Cred. By the way, why did you say such cruel things to the girl? I thought you two had the star-crossed lovers thing going on." Azazel asked Zeke the question with genuine curiosity.

"She didn't need to hear the things that were said in the chopper. I do love her. That's why its better that she stay away from me. I don't want her getting further involved in this." Zeke spoke with a downcast gaze. He closed his eyes and sighed. He wished he could explain what he was feeling when he said those things, but she wouldn't have left if he did.

"Ok, I understand. Me and PJ001 will go fetch master Cred for you. I'm leaving Willem here to watch you. Behave yourselves." Azazel signaled for Jugg to follow him. They exited out of a door on the far side of the room.

The room was dead silent. Willem hadn't taken his eyes off of Zeke for a second. Zeke hadn't either. They were staring at each other with murderous intent. Zeke finally broke the silence.

"Why do you work for this company? Do you even know what they do here?" Zeke was interested to hear Willem's answer.

"I work, I get paid, and honestly, I don't know what they do here, but I don't care." Willem gave a blunt answer.

"Human experimentation. They are trying to make immortal freaks of nature. I'm one of the guinea pigs they used. I don't remember any of it though." Zeke told Willem the truth. Willem's eyes shot wide open in disbelief.

"What?! Human experiments?! You have got to be kidding me. Why are they doing that?" Willem got upset. He didn't take the news lightly.

" I don't know, but I do know that if you stick around, you'll most likely be next. Your enough trouble as it is. I don't need you to be immortal." Willem stopped leaning on the wall and stood straight up. He seemed deep in thought.

"I don't believe you. This company found me when I was a kid, and gave me a life. I won't just turn on them like that." Willem spoke with determination in his voice. He really wasn't going to give up on the company.

"Believe what he says. He speaks the truth. I can vouch for him" A flash of light filled the room, and in the middle of it was a man dressed in all black clothing and armor. "I am Einnor Deer."

"What?! No way!" Willem took a defensive stance. He was willing to fight an unknown enemy for his beliefs.

"It's all here on this microchip. Come with me if you want to know the truth." Einnor pulled a chip out of one of the pockets on his vest.

"Fine. But this jackass comes with me." Willem pointed at Zeke.

"But of course. He is more than welcome to come." Einnor had some questions to ask Zeke, so he preferred it if he would come.

"I'm down. I have questions that maybe you can answer." Zeke didn't reject going with him. He needed as many answers as he could get.

"Wait! Zeke! Take me with you!" A voice came from the hallway. It was none other than Saya.

"Saya, what are you doing here? I told you to leave." Zeke couldn't believe she had came back.

"Please let me come with you. I need to know more. I need to know more about you Zeke." Saya pleaded, and to little surprise, Zeke gave in.

"Very well. I will try my best to keep you safe." Saya ran and hugged Zeke. He missed the warm embrace, even though its only been ten minutes. He really did love this girl.

"Ok, so if you all are ready to go, shall we be going?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

Saya ignored the fact Willem was coming with them. She ignored his very existence. It was possible she still held a grudge from their last encounter.

"With out further ado, were off." Einnor closed his eyes, and the flash of light surrounded the group an they vanished.

The group ended up in a dark room. Einnor flipped the light switch, to reveal a room full of state of the art technology.

"How did you manage to get all this?" Willem asked in astonishment.

"I am a former scientists slash test subject of Ouroboros."


	5. Chapter 5

"Wait, you're a former test subject?" Saya asked curiously.

"Yes I am. That's why I have these powers. We were each given a number to signify the order in which we were created. My number is forty nine. There are a total of fifty experiments. Juggernaut is number thirty six, Azazel is number nineteen, and you, Zeke are number one. Willem, you are a special case, you are like Zeke in a way. You were born with your powers but, without genetic experimentation." Einnor explained to Zeke and Willem.

"I don't have powers. I still think you are lying." Willem was determined not to believe anything Einnor said.

"Of course, you have powers you dunce. How do you explain that left eye of yours. I have studied it. It gives you extreme focus, or in your case marksmanship. You can, unlike other humans, focus all of your brain power on one object. This makes it easier to hit with any projectile. Also when you use that eye, you forcibly unlock more of you brain potential. Instead of the usual maximum of fifteen percent, you can boost it to an astounding thirty percent. You pretty much double your brain power, and that further increases your focus." Einnor explained Willem's ability to everyone. Willem took the information a bit harder than everyone else.

"No way! I can't believe this. I'm a freak of nature." Willem fell to his knees. He couldn't believe what he had heard.

"Zeke, something troubles me about your power. You can manifest energy, yet it only affects your arms. I think that if you concentrate hard enough, you should be able to use your other limbs to control the energy. You should also be able to manifest it in different ways as well." Einnor looked at Zeke with a calculating look.

"It feels natural to use my arms. I can't summon anything other than claws though. It's not something I can control at the moment."

"Interesting. Maybe the video on the chip will be able to help. I will warn you, what you are about to see is not for the faint of heart. Especially for you Zeke, you are the main character in this video."

Einnor put the chip in a nearby computer then he started typing. Within a minute a video was being projected onto a screen on the wall.

"This should elaborate a little on the true nature of Ouroboros." Einnor pressed a button and the video started to play.

It was a video diary. The man on screen had long black hair with white tips. He had cold grey eyes that lacked any morality. He started to speak.

"Hello, I'm Cred Pure. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to create a monster, with science." Cred moved from in front of the camera to reveal a small baby boy on a test table. He had white hair, and his eyes were covered. He was hooked up to a heartbeat monitor and a whole other variety of machines.

"Time for the show! Hahaha!" Cred pulled a lever, then a machine started to shock the baby. It started to cry loudly. The heart beat monitor started to beep faster.

"Let's turn it up a bit!" Cred turned a knob and the electricity seemed to get stronger.

The test room was filled with cries of the baby. The baby started to create a protective barrier with black energy. Cred turned the knob up again, and the barrier was ripped through. Within a few seconds the crying stopped, and the heartbeat monitor flat lined.

"Hahaha! Now let's get down to the real fun stuff." Cred walked over to the lifeless corpse of the baby. He pulled out a syringe and stuck it into the baby's arm, and emptied the syringe into the bloodstream.

The heartbeat monitor started to beep again. The baby started to flail, crying even louder than before. The room was consumed in black energy. Anything it touched was sliced into two. It didn't affect Cred for some reason.

"And this guys and gals! Is the end of tonights show. I hope you enjoyed it." Cred had a wicked smile on his face. He showed no remorse for what he just did to the innocent baby.

The video ended shortly after the experiment was over. Zeke was mortified. He couldn't even speak. His mouth would move, but words wouldn't come out.

"That's terrible! How could he do that to you? You were just a baby." Saya was crying, choking on her words.

Willem at some point in the his video turned away and stopped watching. He had no choice but to believe what Einnor had said now. The company, was evil.

"Willem, I'm sorry to say this, but the forty five people you hunted down are the remaining experiments. They were stripped of their free will, and were made into mindless drones, with the only purpose of following Cred. We will need your help to detain the rest. Only then, can we get to Cred." Einnor put a hand on Willem's shoulder. He felt sympathy for Willem, no one deserved to be deceived in such a way.

"Sure, I'll help you catch the others. I'll even help you kill Cred. But there's one problem with that. Azazel. He has the ability to change a persons perspective. It is very limited though. He can only change the persons perspective of him, which means he needs to be face to face with his enemy. Still, it won't be easy." Willem explained, with a look of new found determination.

Zeke walked out of the room without saying a word. "He must still be in shock from that video. I'll go talk to him." Saya walked out of the room after Zeke.

Zeke had made it to the roof of the building. He was sitting on the edge, looking down at the city. He was dead inside, he didn't know what to believe anymore. Within the course of a day, his entire world was turned upside down. He figures out that his very meaning of existence, was false.

"Zeke. Are you doing ok?" Saya asked as she walked over and sat next to Zeke.

"I don't know anymore Saya. My whole reason for living is gone. I don't know what to do." Zeke put his hands over his head.

"Zeke. Let me give you a reason to live." Saya pulled Zeke's hands off of his head, and turned his head towards her. She planted her lips on his. He was stunned by the sudden action. He settled into it, and placed his hands around her. He pulled her closer, closer than she's ever been to him.

Saya was the one to break the kiss. She was blushing hard, and had an awkward smile. "Thanks Saya. I needed a confidence boost. I love you, Saya." Zeke hugged Saya tightly.

"I think I might still be a little drunk. I could have sworn, the almighty, stone cold monster, Zeke, said he loved me. I think the scotch has gotten to my head." Saya teased, and for some reason, Zeke didn't mind.

"Let's go inside. We have to start planning out what we are going to do in the future. If I'm the key to stopping all of this madness, then so be it." Zeke grabbed Saya's hand and they both walked back into the building.

When Zeke and Saya made it back into the room where the others were, they saw Einnor and Willem looking at a holotable. It was showing a list of all the other experiments, and their abilities.

"Hey guys. What are you looking at?" Saya asked as she and Zeke walked up to the table.

"We are figuring out the best course of action to take. It seems the lower numbered experiments are the stronger ones, but get this, there is no information on experiment number two, other than the fact that they are a female, and around the age of eighteen. There are bits and pieces of their abilities, but nothing solid. All that we can figure out is that she has some sort of pyromancy ability. She is nicknamed The Phoenix Flower." Willem was stumped. He wanted to know who number two was, but it seemed to be impossible at the moment.

"There is some more interesting news. There is an experiment with the number negative one. He isn't in any of the main files, I only found him when I dug deep into the records. After Zeke was released into the world, Cred tried to make an exact genetic copy of you, a clone I guess is what you would call it. He had the opposite ability of you. Instead of creating energy, he absorbs it, then redistributes it through out his body, giving his body a physical boost, however, he went mentally insane and they put him into isolation. He was made just in case Zeke ever rebelled. Here is a picture of him." Einnor put his hand on the table and slid the hologram into the middle. Then he expanded it. The man in the picture had red hair, and green eyes. The opposite of Zeke.

"So, is it safe to say we don't have to worry about him?" Zeke asked curiously. He was studying the picture. The facial resemblance was uncanny, it was if Zeke was looking into a mirror that turned things into negatives of themselves.

"Hmm. I don't know. If things get too troublesome, I wouldn't put it past Cred to release him." Einnor closed the picture file and continued to look through more files.

"I say we go find number fifty. It will be the easiest target. One mistake Cred made, was making all of the experiments sleeper agents. They each live on their own, until commanded by Cred to do something. They will take defensive action if threatened however." Willem stated his plan, and all agreed except for Zeke. He seemed discomforted by something.

"What's wrong Zeke?" Saya grabbed his hand, and his face contorted.

"I just think this all seems too easy. I'm almost positive Cred knows we are planning this, and yet he hasn't taken any action to stop us. Its as if he is mocking us, like he's already won. He wants us to go after the experiments. Maybe its a political standpoint. Just think, if we go and kill one of the experiments, that will give him the perfect opportunity to show that we are the bad guys. He would then get approval, to use all of the other experiments to hunt us down. Excluding me and Einnor, number two, negative one, Azazel, and Juggernaut, that would leave forty four experiments that will be hunting us down at once, and that's just if we kill one." Zeke explained to everyone his thought process.

"Why did you exclude Juggernaut and Azazel?" Einnor asked confused. Zeke thought that out of all people, he would know.

"Because, Cred isn't stupid enough to get rid of his right hand man and bodyguard. It would be too risky." Willem chimed into the conversation.

"Exactly, we need to find a way to get rid of them, without rising suspicion. I say we cause a little bit of collateral damage, and pawn it off as an accident. If Cred takes the bait, he should send an experiment after us. That's just a thought." Zeke was trying hard to find a way around Cred's defenses. All plans lead to him being able to utilize all the experiments at once.

"I might be able to help without collateral damage. I have three abilities. Invisibility, teleportation, and a form of energy control that is based off of Zeke's power. I can throw shuriken and kunai, then surround and enlarge them with energy. Then I can control that energy and make the projectiles move how ever I want. Now that I think about it, most of the abilities of the others, are based off of yours and number two's powers. You two are the archetypes, the basis of all the other experiments." Einnor came to the sudden realization, and this made him think more about negative one's power. "It couldn't be..."

"What is it Einnor?" Zeke asked curiously.

"Zeke, I want you to manifest your claws then grab my arm." Einnor demanded.

"Ok, if you say so." Zeke did as he was told, and grabbed Einnor's arm with his manifested claws.

Einnor pulled Zeke's arm down, then examined it with some sort of machine. It beeped several times when it came in contact with Zeke's arm.

"What does that mean?" Saya asked nervously.

"It means that whenever Zeke comes into contact with any experiment, his claws retain some of their power. Thus making him stronger. The more experiments he fights, the stronger he gets. Zeke, negative one wasn't created to be your counterpart. He was created to absorb you, and all the residual power of the other experiments. Then, I'm just guessing here, he should be able to use them to his will. He wasn't a failed experiment, he was made to be the perfect experiment." Einnor said astonished at his discovery.

"But if we don't let him fight, it will be impossible to beat the lower numbered experiments. Then again, if he does fight there's the chance he could get absorbed. So either way, we're fucked. Cred must have planned this from the very beginning." Willem slammed his first on the table.

"I'll fight, and I will win. I have a tendency not to give up, and I'm very stubborn. So good luck trying to change my mind." Zeke said with a smile.

" Well, we can't force you not to fight. Count me in." Willem put a fist in the middle of the three. He had a wide smile.

"I will join you as well. I would like to see how this journey unfolds." Einnor put his fist against Willem's. He had a slight grin on his face.

"Well, now that we are all in agreement, let's get to work." Zeke pressed his fist against the others.

Saya couldn't help but smile. Its only been a few hours, and Zeke had already made some friends. She had a feeling that if they put their minds to it, they could accomplish anything.

"So first order of business, the living arrangements."


	6. Chapter 6

"Living arrangements?" Zeke's statement sounded more like a question. He was completely fine living on the street. He's been doing it for the past five years.

"Yes. There are three rooms here, so someone is sharing, and its not going to be me." Einnor stated firmly.

"I'm not either. I have too many dangerous weapons to be sharing a room with someone." Willem pointed out the obvious. They both knew what they were doing.

"So I guess that me and Zeke are sharing a room. That's great! Come on Einnor, show us to our rooms." Saya accepted the ordeal with open arms.

"Wait a sec, do I not have a say in this?" Zeke asked, flustered. He knew this would most likely happen, he just thought that he could at least have a little bit of leeway in the discussion.

"No." All three of the others said in unison. They all had planned this as soon as Einnor mentioned it. Zeke never consciously shared a room with a girl. He didn't know how to take it.

"Fine, you guys win. Einnor, lead the way." Zeke gave up on arguing. He knew he wouldn't win.

"Very well. Follow me." Einnor motioned for everyone to follow and so they did. The exit to the room was concealed behind a moveable panel with a hand scanner on it. Einnor placed his hand on the scanner to reveal a very fancy apartment. It was big and spacious. If someone didn't know better they could have mistaken it for a room in a five star hotel.

"Right this way." Einnor started walking up a small flight of stairs that lead to a one way hallway. Down the hall were three rooms.

"Holy shit! I can't believe you live in a place like this. And here I was thinking living in a mall was first class." Zeke said as he looked around. There were a bunch of priceless antiques on small tables.

"A few years ago, I was always on an adventure, testing my limits, and trying to find the secrets of the world, but those days are over now. Now a days I just stick to my research in my lab."

"That's pretty cool." Zeke stated casually. He wished he could have went on adventures, but he was stuck in Hell's Gates his whole life.

"Ok, here is your room Zeke. Sorry but there is only one bed." Einnor opened up the door and kept walking down the hall.

"That's fine. Come on Zeke, let's go in." Saya pushed Zeke into the room, and closed the door behind her.

Zeke was in the middle of the room, staring at the bed. He walked over and sat down. Saya remained standing. "I'll sleep on the floor. It will be more comfortable for me anyway."

"No you're not. You are sharing a bed with me." Saya spoke sternly. She wasn't going to let Zeke wiggle out of this.

"But Saya-" Zeke was cut off by Saya.

"No buts. You are sharing a bed with me and that's final. Now I don't think it would be comfortable to sleep in that coat. I think you should take it off." Saya half asked, half demanded.

"Fine." Zeke wasn't going to argue with Saya. He took off his coat and threw it on the floor.

Say was starting to take off her clothes. She started with her shirt, which was enough to catch Zeke's attention.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Zeke asked as he turned away. He had became flustered.

"You didn't expect me to sleep in my clothes did you? I have to be comfortable when I sleep. Also its pretty stuffy in this room, I would get hot. Also why are you looking away. Its not like you haven't seen me in my lingerie before. You've seen me in much less and it didn't bother you." Saya said as she started taking off her jeans.

"I kind of did, and those were different circumstances." Zeke continued to become more and more flustered as this predicament continued.

Saya ignored Zeke and pulled off her jeans. She wanted to get a little bit of payback for what he said earlier. She was going to torture him in the funniest way possible.

"Come on Zeke, look at me." Saya said demandingly. She wanted his attention to be all on her.

"No. Its indecent." Zeke seemed to turn his head away farther. If he turned his head anymore he would break his neck.

"Please, Zeke? Won't you comfort me?" Saya begged in an innocently seductive tone. She walked over and put her hands on his knees.

"Saya." Zeke turned to look at Saya, only to be met with a wicked smile, and suggestive glare.

"So that's the kind of girl your interested in. Meek and fickle. I guess that makes sense." Saya put a finger to her chin, as if she was in deep thought.

"No that's not it at all!" Zeke defended. His face had become red at the sight of Saya. If he didn't have the level self control he had, he was sure he would have gotten a nosebleed, and taken her right there on the spot.

"Are you sure?" Saya pushed Zeke down to the bed and straddled his hips. She applied force to his chest do he couldn't get up. She knew he could get up, but he wouldn't in fear of somehow harming her.

Suddenly the door opened to reveal Einnor. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention-" Einnor stopped mid sentence. He couldn't help but stare at the sight before him.

"It's exactly what it looks like." Saya said this to get a rise out of Zeke. He became flustered and started to struggle. He couldn't speak through the embarrassment.

"The bathroom is down the hall. Uhm, goodnight." Einnor shut the door, and walked back to his room. Saya could have sworn she heard him say something about not waiting until everyone was asleep. She wondered if he was talking about them.

"Saya, are you really going to force me to do this? I will gladly do this when the whole predicament with Cred is over. I promise. I just, it's not a good time right now. I am exhausted and I want to get some sleep. Please Saya?" Zeke asked, defeated. His last chance was to plead, and hope it worked.

Saya suddenly got an upset look on her face. Not an angry upset, but a sad upset. She must have really wanted to be intimate with Zeke. She had finally found the love of her life again, and she couldn't love him the way she wanted to. She wanted to be his lover, but he was pushing her away.

"I can't force you to do something you don't want to do. You are still sharing a bed with me though!" Saya compromised, but not without proper compensation.

"Why? I've only known you for a few days. It seems like we are rushing things."

"A few days? Zeke, you've known me for years. You and me made a promise. Don't tell me you forgot!" Saya was getting upset. She couldn't believe Zeke had forgotten that milestone in their lives.

"Saya, I'm going to be honest with you. I have no memories before the age of eight. Just the other day, it felt like the first time I had ever met you. I know you've known me since we were little, but to me it feels like only a few days. Also that promise, I do remember it, we said we would stay together forever. That's pretty much the only thing I remember before I turned eight. The only reason I remember it, is because of a dream I had. To me it feels, I don't know, fabricated somehow. It doesn't seem real." Zeke told Saya the truth. He planned on telling her sooner, but there were big distractions. Such as Willem, and the whole thing with Cred.

Saya's eyes started to tear up. She crawled over Zeke and laid down on the bed. She pulled the covers over herself, and started to cry.

"My love for you, is not, fabricated. I can't believe you've forgotten every thing we've been through. You can sleep where ever you want. I'm going to sleep." Saya closed her eyes.

"Saya, I'm sorry." Zeke laid down beside Saya. He pulled the covers over himself.

"Zeke, what are you doing?" Saya turned over to look Zeke in the eyes.

"I'm laying beside you. What else would I be doing." Zeke put an arm over Saya. She flinched under the skin to skin contact. He smiled and pulled her closer. He slid an arm under her head.

Saya could feel his warmth seep into her body. She felt like she was going to melt. His presence made her feel safe, secure, wanted. His embrace was soft and caring.

"You are so warm. I could stay like this forever." Saya buried her face in Zeke's chest. She quickly fell asleep.

"I need to get my memories back. When I do, every moment I live, will be for you." Zeke kissed Saya's head, then fell asleep as well. He had another dream of the past.

The current date was June 6, 2030. It had been two months since Zeke first met Saya. They had grown really close over that short period of time, they were inseparable.

Zeke and Saya were currently walking home from school. They were holding hands, as they always did.

"So, Saya. Do you want to hangout today?" Zeke asked with his signature toothy grin.

"Sure. It will be fun." Saya said happily. She would do anything so she didn't have to go home right away. Her father was abusive. There wasn't a day that Zeke saw Saya without bruises. He hated her father for what he was doing but he didn't have the power to stop him.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice came from behind the two. It was none other than Kyle, a bully from their school. He had his group of friends with him. He made it his job to torture Zeke.

"We were going somewhere far away from you." Zeke answered definitively. He stepped in front of Saya. "Saya, go ahead with out me. I'll catch up." Saya obeyed Zeke and kept walking.

"Wrong answer!" Kyle ran up and punched Zeke in the face.

Zeke fell to the ground. When he was about to get up one of the other boys kicked him in the face. The rest of the group joined in on the assault. They were continuously punching, kicking, and stomping on Zeke.

"Who do you think you are?! Talk to me like that again, and we'll make you dead! Do you hear me?!" Kyle screamed as he stomped on Zeke's face. He was smiling wickedly, he enjoyed inflicting pain. It made him feel big and strong.

To avoid anymore unwanted attention, Kyle and his lackeys carried Zeke to a nearby alley where they continued to beat him mercilessly. They would slam his head into the alley wall, kick him in the gut until he puked, and punch him in the face until a tooth fell out. He didn't fight back because he knew it was useless. If he stood up for himself, they really would kill him, and no one but Saya would care, or even notice.

"Let that be a lesson to you dumbass!" Kyle said with a look of pure joy on his face.

By the end of it, Zeke was covered in blood and bruises. He had a few broken ribs as well. They finally stopped and left him alone after a few minutes of abuse. They walked away, smiling from ear to ear and laughing. Zeke couldn't believe they enjoyed beating the snot out of someone.

Zeke took a few quick breaths then cringed. "Man it hurts to breathe, but I have to catch up with Saya. She's probably at the park." Zeke stood up and headed toward the park.

It wasn't that long of a walk to the park. When Zeke got there he saw Saya sitting alone on a swing. She looked worried, so Zeke decided to walk over and say something.

"Hey Saya I made it." Zeke spoke weakly. He was getting dizzy from the pain. He could barely stand.

"Oh my gosh Zeke! Did they do this to you?!" Saya saw Zeke's blood stained hair and clothes. He had a nosebleed and was clutching his chest.

"Yeah, it's no problem. I'm fine. I'm used to it by now." Zeke walked over and sat in the swing beside Saya.

"If you say so. I still think you should tell your mommy. It's not good to be beat up all the time." Saya started to swing slowly. Zeke just watched and smiled. He would be swinging with her, but his injuries stopped him from doing so.

After a short while Saya stopped. She looked at Zeke and smiled. "Let's go get on the seesaw." Saya jumped up and ran over to the Seesaw on the other side of the small playground. Zeke got up and followed her.

Zeke got over to the seesaw a lot slower than Saya did. He was too dizzy to run, and in too much pain to think straight. His focus kept going in and out, he almost fell numerous times. Saya noticed that Zeke was having a hard time moving, so she got off of the seesaw to go see what was wrong.

"Zeke. Are you sure you are ok?" Saya asked clearly, but to Zeke it sounded muffled and incoherent.

All of a sudden Zeke capsized. He fell unconscious. His entire view had turned black. He couldn't see anything. Just darkness.

Zeke's eyes shot open. He was in the room Einnor was letting them borrow for the time being. He looked over and saw Saya's sleeping face, laying on his chest.

"You really are pretty. I think I'm starting to get my memories back, but I could do without the throbbing headache afterward." Zeke spoke quietly so he didn't wake Saya up.

He laid in the bed for ten minutes, thinking about the dream. He couldn't get over how real the pain felt, or how he couldn't remember a beating like that. His body felt sore, as if the beating just happened, Zeke ignored it.

"Not nearly as bad as getting shot by acid filled bullets. Those things hurt like a bitch!" Zeke exclaimed quietly. Saya still wasn't awake. Only when he checked the time did he know why. It was only six o'clock in the morning. The others wouldn't be awake for a while.

Saya stirred under the covers. She slowly opened her eyes, and looked at Zeke. She saw that he was deep in thought.

"Good morning Zeke." Saya said she sat up and stretched. Zeke couldn't help but stare when her hands were stretching above her head. One lace of her bra was dangling loosely at the side of her shoulder. She was lucky it didn't slip off in her sleep, but Zeke doubted she would care as long as it was Zeke who saw.

"Morning. You're up early." Zeke reached over and fixed the lace on her bra. Saya blushed a little and adjusted it to a comfortable position.

"This is the time I normally wake up. Why are you up so early?" Saya looked Zeke in the eyes. They seemed to glow in the dark, shining the bright red that they are.

"Normally I'm the only one up at this hour. I've always been like that. Would you like to go look at the city with me, maybe even watch the sun come up?" Zeke asked with a slight smile. His eyes closed, and to Saya the room seemed like it got darker than ever. She didn't know why she was so infatuated with his eyes.

"How romantic of you. Sure I will." Saya pulled the covers off of them and crawled over Zeke. She picked up her shirt and put it on. She didn't bother with the pants, the shirt went down to her waist so everything was adequately covered.

Zeke got out of bed right after Saya and put his pants on. He didn't need to wear his jacket inside, so he left it on the floor.

The couple walked out of the room and into the living area. They couldn't call it a room because it took up the majority of the apartment, which was still huge in comparison.

Saya walked over to the giant windows and stared out. Most of the city was still asleep, hardly any lights were on. This made it a great time to watch the sun come up.

Zeke was over in the pantry looking for coffee. He found it in the most inconvenient place. On the top shelf of the the tallest pantry. Zeke wondered how someone could even reach it by normal means, but he then realized that Einnor wasn't normal. He could just teleport to the top shelf.

Zeke jumped up and grabbed the coffee. He tried to land softly so he didn't make any unnecessary noise. It seemed to work, no one woke up, but he caught Saya's attention who was softly giggling.

"How do you like your coffee? How much sugar should I put in it?" Zeke asked as he pulled two mugs out of the lowest pantry. He wondered why the coffee of all things had to be in the tallest cabinet.

"None, I like my coffee black." Saya said as she was still looking outside. She knew the peaceful moments like these wouldn't last long, so she made it a point to enjoy them.

"Ok then." Within a few minutes Zeke had two mugs of coffee prepared. He took one over to Saya. She grabbed it with both hands and took a sip.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Saya asked as she took another drink of coffee.

"What makes you think I want to talk about something?" Zeke asked as he took a drink of his own coffee, a little surprised she had found him out so easily.

"You have always been like that. You would ask if I wanted to go do something fun, then you would have something that's heavy on your heart to talk about." Saya looked at Zeke expectingly. She was waiting for him to say what he wanted to say.

"Wow! You know me better than I do. That's kind of the topic though. In a way I guess. Saya, what happened at the park eleven years ago when I got jumped by those bullies?" Zeke asked, his expression getting a little more serious.

"How can I forget? You passed out on the way to the seesaw, and naturally, I freaked out. I thought you were dead. I was balling my eyes out, when you woke up and said you were fine, that you just needed to go home. So I helped you up, and walked you home. You said some pretty interesting things, that I'm not a liberty to tell you yet." Saya told Zeke what he wanted, but for some reason, he felt just as empty as he did before. He knows she's telling the truth, it just didn't seem right to him.

"Thank you, Saya." Zeke ignored his thoughts to enjoy the moment. He started smiling for no apparent reason.

"You're welcome my big brave boy." Saya said in a teasing tone. She started giggling uncontrollably.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zeke asked, confused by what Saya's previous statement meant.

"You will find out in due time. In due time." Saya's eyes glowed as the sun peaked over the buildings. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

"Whatever you say."


	7. Chapter 7

Einnor and Willem woke up two hours after Zeke and Saya did. They walked out into the living room and saw Saya cuddled up to Zeke on the couch. Einnor couldn't help but smile, it was a peaceful sight, none of which will be common in the future to come. He thought they should enjoy it while it lasts.

"Good morning guys." Zeke was the first to speak. He gave the guys a slight smile. He couldn't but notice the look Einnor was giving him.

"Morning. Did you two have fun last night?" Einnor asked casually, even though what he was implying was nothing of the sort.

"What?! That was a misunderstanding!" Zeke defended. He became flustered and started blushing. Even if him and Saya did do something, Einnor shouldn't announce it.

"Sure it is. Now I'm going to have to wash the sheets, probably going to have to use gloves." Einnor kept ranting as if Zeke never said anything. He was annoyed to no end at the thought of Zeke and Saya making love in one of his beds

"Einnor, Zeke is telling the truth. We didn't do anything, even though I would have liked to. He flat out rejected me." Saya said with a sigh. She put her hands up in a, what can you do, position.

"Hey, that makes me seem like the suspect when I was in fact the victim. I can't help it you can't control your libido." Zeke sat up straight and looked her dead in the eye.

"I would do no such thing. I would never force my beloved Zeke to do anything he didn't want to do." Saya feigned innocence. She was trying to make Zeke feel bad about last night. She must've really wanted it bad.

"What?!" Zeke was dumbfounded by Saya's audacity. He couldn't believe he heard those words come out of her mouth.

"Well, since that's cleared up, we should try to help you two fit in more with the community. If you two walk around with the clothes you have now, people will get suspicious and report you to the Cleaners. That would be troublesome." Willem jumped into the conversation. He raised a valid point. If they were reported, the Cleaners could ruin the entire plan.

"I agree. We will go shopping for clothes. It will be on me. I assume you two don't have very much money." Einnor spoke in an approving tone. He would let them pick out a few outfits each. It wouldn't hurt for them to take a shower either, maybe get a hair cut.

"Well, you assumed right. Our currency on the other side has less value here. If we had a hundred dollars over there, it would be about one dollar here. Just goes to show how fucked up society is. People who come from poverty, stay in poverty. Luckily, I never really cared." Zeke was disgusted at how people on this side treated people from Hell's Gates. It was easily comparable to the difference in Heaven and Hell.

"Well, if you think that way, you are more than welcome to. We will head out once you two get fully dressed."

"Alright. Let's get dressed Saya." Zeke let Saya get off of him and stood up to stretch. Saya did the same. Her shirt rode up her stomach to reveal her panties. Willem and Einnor couldn't help but blush and look away.

"Ok, let's go." Saya started walking towards the stairs. Zeke stayed behind a little to stretch a bit more. His body always got stiff after sleeping. It was due to all the breaks and cracks in his bones. He's broken just about every bone in his body getting in fights.

When Saya got to the top of the stairs, Einnor and Willem turned to look up her shirt. They started to blush again, but they were pulled from their trance by a sharp pain in the back of their heads. Zeke had punched them both. Hard.

"As far as you two are concerned, she's mine. So stop ogling her like that. She's not a piece of meat." Zeke was rubbing his fist. He must have hit them harder than he thought.

"Damn. I never got a good look at her. She has a nice bombshell body. Really nice curves if I do say so myself. She's too hot for a pipsqueak like you." Willem admired Saya's body, at the same time insulting Zeke.

" I warned you. I won't warn you again. If you try anything with her, I will hurt you. She's all I have. I won't let you take her from me!" Zeke got protective over Saya. She was at the top of the stairs around the corner. She was listening closely.

"Oh yeah. You just watch. I'll have her sucking my-" Willem was cut off by a claw wrapped around his throat. He was struggling to get free. Zeke was calm a few seconds ago but he snapped into an outrage.

"I told you. The moment you try, is the moment you die. Understand?" Zeke's eyes started glowing, like the time when Willem was fighting Zeke back in the mall.

"Zeke, let him go!" Saya said from the top of the stairs. She was fully dressed and holding Zeke's jacket. She thought he was taking it too far. She didn't want him to kill anybody.

Zeke obeyed and let Willem go. Willem fell to the ground holding his throat, struggling to get air into his lungs. Saya ran down the stairs and smacked Zeke. His eyes returned to normal, and he looked around. He put a hand over the spot where Saya had smacked him.

"Why did you smack me?" Zeke had a look of shocked curiosity on his face. He didn't know what was going on.

"What do you mean why did I smack you?! You almost killed Willem!" Saya yelled at the curious Zeke.

"I did what?" Zeke picked up his left arm and was about to scratch the back of his head, when he realized it was in its claw form. "What the hell?! When did I? Oh my god its happening again!" Zeke jumped up and took his jacket from Saya. He then ran towards the window and opened it.

"Zeke, whats happening again?!" Saya was going to run after Zeke, but swung his, and blades of energy slashed the ground in front of her. Her whole body jumped and she fell back.

"It'd be best if you guys stay away from me. All I can tell you is, that I'm going to lose control soon, but it won't be permanent. If you happen to see me again within the next twenty four hours, attack me without a warning, because I doubt I'll give you the same luxury." After the last word Zeke jumped out of the window. Saya ran over and looked out; Zeke was nowhere to be found.

"Zeke." Saya closed her eyes in remorse. She couldn't help but think that it's her fault that Zeke was like that. He seemed scared of his own power.

"I never thought it possible. I thought that it was all lies, and that the theories were just that. Theories." Einnor spoke in a grim tone. He sounded frightened, scared, not alive.

"What do you know about this Einnor?! Tell me now!" Saya was overcome with emotions. She was angry, sad, and confused at the same time.

"Ok. Well let me start from the beginning. Zeke was always tortured with experiments. He would always scream in agony, but it fell on deaf ears. He wasn't allowed contact to the other experiments. So he was alone, all the time. After each experiment he would be put into a single solitary room with no windows. One day, a guard heard him talking to himself. He was asking himself questions, then answering them. He would tell himself a joke and laugh, then say how good of a joke it was. He never stopped talking to himself. He genuinely believed someone else was there. So the guards started to sedate him when he was put back into the room, but it didn't work. He kept talking except he didn't answer himself this time. He was talking to us. I still remember the conversation as if it were yesterday." Einnor thought back. He had a flash back of the conversation with a younger Zeke.

"Hello Zeke how are you?" Einnor asked in a sing song voice.

"I'm not Zeke, I'm the other voice."

"Ok, other one, why are you and Zeke talking to each other?" Einnor asked carefully. He didn't want to seem aggressive and scare Zeke.

"We talk, because no one else will. He doesn't like being alone. So he made me to talk to. I don't want to talk to you guys, I'm sure Zeke doesn't want to either."

"Very well. We will leave."

Einnor was in the middle of his apartment when he explained all that to Saya and Willem. He couldn't believe what he just saw.

"I thought he made an imaginary friend. I guess I was wrong. His soul must have split into two. That means there are two beings sharing one body. If we had known that, and if we weren't ignorant, we could have kept him past the age of five, but Cred ordered us to put him for adoption as soon as he turned five. That other being must be his hate and anger against the entire world. The original Zeke must be trying to keep it compressed." Einnor explained. Wide eyed and fearful. How was he supposed to know that Zeke still had that being inside him.

"We have to go find him. He won't hurt me. I promise you that." Saya got a determined look on her face. She wasn't going to just let Zeke walk away this time without answering some questions.

"What makes you so sure? He seemed pretty hell bent on killing me!" Willem finally stood up. He was rubbing his neck. Zeke left a mark where his claws were applying pressure. He really did come close to strangling Willem.

" I'm sure, because he was defending me when he turned. It's just like back at the mall. Also, Willem, I will never be with you, nor will I ever suck that pathetic excuse of a thing between your legs." Saya put air quotes around the last part. She had heard the whole conversation.

"What?! You heard that?! I was just kidding! I never thought the kid would take it seriously!" Willem immediately started to come up with excuses. He was trying to cover for himself.

"Sure you were. I know Zeke. He can take a joke, what you said was no joke. You deliberately provoked him. I can't be mad at you for anymore than that. You couldn't have known he was in the state that he was in." Saya had backed Willem into a corner. He didn't know how to respond.

"Fine! I wasn't joking, but who could blame me. With a body like yours I'm sure you've done plenty of naughty things to get by. You probably had men drooling all around you." Willem didn't know when to shut up. He always had a thing for provoking people. He never really understood why; he just couldn't avoid doing it.

"For your information, I'm a virgin. I've never done anything of the sort. In fact, I've always been disgusted by the thought of it. The only person I can see my self getting intimate with, is Zeke. He's the only one I would even want to do it with." Saya explained in a stern tone. She had dumbfounded Willem. He didn't expect to hear her say she was a virgin.

"Damn. That means I don't have a chance. Oh well. I'm jealous now. Let's go find that bastard Zeke so I can beat the shit out of him for making me jealous." He hid his true intentions behind words of violence, but Willem wanted Zeke to come back just as bad as Saya. Zeke had grown on him, and he considered him a valuable ally, maybe even a friend.

"Alright. We will start searching right away. We can't let him cause trouble, or our hardships until now will be for naught." Einnor went over to the primary exit to the apartment. He put his hand on the scanner and the door opened.

"We should split up. If we find him, we will attempt capture or reasoning. Saya will be the safest alone. If there is one thing I learned about Zeke, it's that he values what's precious to him, no matter what condition he is in. If we are with her, that would just put her in more danger." Willem spoke as he walked out of the door to the apartment.

"Be careful Saya." Einnor walked out right after Willem.

"Ok. I have no clue where to search, but with any luck, Zeke will come to find me. Zeke likes dark secluded spaces, so I should start there." Saya walked out of the door and closed it behind her. She ran over to the stairs and ran down to the main lobby of the apartment complex. She walked out into the bustling city.

Saya started walking in a random direction. She would ask random strangers if they saw any sign of Zeke. She would describe him to them and they would all point the same direction. He was heading towards the center of the city.

Saya realized why Zeke was in the center of the city when she got there. Town hall was there, and they had records of everyone in the city. Saya thought Zeke must be looking for someone, so she decided to try her luck there.

Saya walked up the tall flight of stairs that lead to the entrance of the town hall. She couldn't help but notice the curious expressions people had.

"Zeke was definitely here." Saya said to herself as she walked into the building. She saw a clerk talking to someone. They didn't seem to be authorities, perhaps a friend from the workplace. Saya walked up to the counter, she quickly caught the clerks attention.

"Oh, hello miss. How may I help you?" The clerk had a soft voice and a gentle smile.

"I'm looking for someone. He may have come by here. He has white hair and red eyes. Has a very toned body, and had a black trench coat on with no under shirt." Saya described Zeke to the lady behind the counter. She must have seen him because her eyes got wide at the description of the man.

"Yes miss. I have seen him. He just left a few minutes ago. He was asking where a miss Emilia Davenport lived. We told him and he just left."

"Thank you, can I get directions to her house. I need to find this man quickly before he does something stupid." Saya asked with a feigned embarrassment. She couldn't let the clerk know just how serious the situation was, or she would call the cleaners.

"I understand. You suspect your boyfriend of cheating, am I right?" The clerk asked with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah you got me." Saya became genuinely embarrassed at that statement.

"Ok, here you go then miss." The clerk lady printed off detailed directions to Emilia's house and handed them to Saya.

"Thank you ma'am." Saya turned and ran off. She quickly exited the building and took a look at the directions.

Saya followed the instructions to the point and found her way to Emilia's house in a matter of minutes. She lived conveniently close to town hall. When she walked up the building the realization suddenly hit her like a sack of bricks.

"Emilia Davenport was the name of experiment number fifty. Oh no! Zeke is going to kill her! If he does that the cleaners will be onto us! I have to stop him!" Saya opened the entrance to Emilia's house. When she walked in the scent of blood bombarded her nose. It was coming from upstairs.

Saya ran up the stairs and followed the scent to a door at the end of the hallway. She hesitated before she opened it. She had to muster up the courage to face what's behind the door.

It took a minute but Saya finally found the will to open the door, only to be met with a horrific sight. The walls were covered with blood, and limbs were flung every where. In the middle of it all was Zeke, drinking wine out of a fancy glass. He was using the remains of Emilia's body as a foot rest.

"Hello Saya, how are you today? I'm the other voice, but you can still call me Zeke if you like, or you can simply call me Other." Other had a wicked smile on his face, that showed no remorse or rationality.

"How could you use Zeke's body to do this? This is terrible, you made Zeke seem like a coldblooded killer." Saya was wide eyed in fear.

"That's an easy one. I did it because that's what master Zeke desired. You may think I'm just his hate or rage, but I'm more than that. You see, I am his true desires. By the way, would you like some wine?" Other asked with a bland expression. He didn't seem to care about what he had done.

"His true desires?" Saya asked curiously. Her tone was shaky and she could feel her heart speed up. She was curious, but still scared none the less.

"Yes, that's right. I'm the one responsible for killing this here lowly experiment. I'm also responsible for killing Zeke's adoptive parents, and a few others that Zeke wanted dead." Other started swirling the liquid in the glass around. He smiled and downed the wine in one go.

"You killed Zeke's parents. Do you have any idea the burden you put on him?! He has lived the past five years thinking he killed his parents! He never got over it! He hates himself, and he doesn't want to have anything to do with anybody!" Saya yelled at the monster in front of her.

"Not true, not true. He seems to be very fond of you. He doesn't want you dead at all. In fact he's head over heels in love with you. I can read his mind, and he has thoughts about you dying and what he would do if it happened. He says he would kill himself if you ever died."

"He would kill himself?" Saya was stunned at what she just heard. She didn't think Zeke cared about her that much.

"Yes, you are his very reason for living. Therefore, as long as you are alive, Zeke stays alive. If Zeke stays alive, I do too."

Other stood up and walked towards Saya. She backed up until she hit a wall. She had nowhere to run, no clue what was about to happen to her.

"Let me show you, just how much Zeke loves you." Other pushed Saya against the wall and forcibly kissed her. He grabbed at her chest, but she smacked his hand and pushed him away.

"Don't touch me like that! Only Zeke can be the one to do that. You, are not, Zeke." Saya had a look of disgust in her eyes. She couldn't believe she had let him pin her to a wall. She wasn't going to let some cheap knock off of the original, get the best of her.

"Fine. My time is almost up anyway. Zeke is fighting harder than usual to regain control of this body. I'd say I have about, oh I don't know, about five minutes."

"Good, I need to talk to Zeke anyway." Saya leaned against the wall and stared at Other. She didn't take her eyes off of him for a second.

Other just smiled and poured another glass of wine. He sat back down on the couch and propped his feet back up on Emilia's body. He took a drink, and laid his head back then closed his eyes. He stayed like that for the full five minutes.

When the five minutes were up, Saya stopped leaning on the wall, and walked over to Zeke's body. The person on the couch started to move, Saya didn't know whether it was Zeke, or the other one; so she used caution when approaching.

Saya was practically staring the person in the eye, if his eyes were open. She had to confirm who it was. Saya was having a hard time controlling her breathing, and the person on the couch noticed. Every time she would let a breath escape, it would hit his cheek and his face would twitch every time. After a while, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Saya.

"Saya?"


	8. Chapter 8

"Saya? Where am I?" Zeke asked, confused. He was unsure of his surroundings. The room smelt horrid, and all Zeke could see, was a crimson shade of red.

"You are in Emilia Davenport's residents. You just slaughtered her, and are currently sitting on her couch, using the remains of her body as a foot rest." Saya said in a monotonic tone, almost like a robot.

"What?" Zeke looked down at his feet, jumped. He flinched back and put his feet on the couch. "What the fuck?! I did this?! That's...that's horrible!" Zeke's eyes were wide with disbelief. Was he really the one who slaughtered this woman.

"Yes you did. She was experiment number fifty. You showed no regret, so why the sudden change?" Saya asked coldly. Her expression was grim, and solemn.

"What do you mean?! I don't remember doing any of this!" Zeke was unaware that he was yelling. He couldn't control his tone. He was too frightened, too distressed to even think straight.

"So, you are saying that you don't remember ripping her limb from limb! She didn't know what was coming when you came to her door! Because of your inability to control yourself, the whole plan is probably ruined!" Saya had raised her voice. She was obviously disgruntled about the whole situation.

"Saya." Zeke reached out to grab Saya's hand. She quickly jerked it away, and backed up a few steps.

"Don't touch me!" The image of Zeke almost molesting her was fresh in her mind. She didn't know what to think anymore. She didn't know if she could trust Zeke like she did before.

"I'm sorry. It happened again. It's understandable if you hate me now. In fact, I expect you to hate me. Everyone else does. So why shouldn't you? I'll be ok with it. Just say it. Just say that you hate me. I want you to say it. I'm used to it. You'll be no different than anybody else. Without me you could live a normal life on this side." Zeke started ranting. He couldn't control his thoughts anymore. All varieties of scenarios played through his head. He knee Saya hated him now. She had a reason too.

Saya opened her mouth to speak. Zeke prepared for the words that came next. "I don't hate you, I love you. I'm just a little uneasy now, that's all. I will never stop loving you. If you decide to die, I will die with you. If you choose to fight, I will fight with you. If you want to leave, I will leave with you. Also, if you chose to become a demon, and forsake this world, I will become your demoness and be right by your side until the end." Saya walked over and put her arms around Zeke. She now knew what she had to do. She will stay by Zeke, and help him confront his fears, and overcome the hellish power that is pooling inside him.

"Oh Saya, what have I become?" Zeke asked as tears filled his eyes. His life was thrown into chaos, at a random point without warning. He has been through a lot, within the course of a week.

"I don't know Zeke. I don't know." Saya squeezed Zeke harder, causing his head to press against her chest. Zeke put his arms around Saya, and hugged her back.

"We should probably head back. I'm sure Willem is dying to chew me out." Zeke let go and stood up. He took one last look around the room before grimacing. He would have nightmares again.

"Ok. Let's go." Saya grabbed Zeke's hand and they walked out of the room together. When they made it to the hallway, they heard some sirens outside.

"We have to hurry. If we get caught, its all over." Zeke ran down the stairs quickly, and opened up the door. He picked up Saya bridal style, and jumped to the ledge of the nearest building.

Zeke was quick enough to not be seen by civilians. He kept jumping from building to building until he could no longer hear sirens. At that point they were about a block away from Einnor's home.

"Zeke, I think we lost them. We can go back down to the ground to the ground." Saya looked around for any sign of the authorities. She confirmed that there were none around.

"Alright." Zeke jumped off of the building they were currently on. He put Saya on her feet and they headed towards Einnor's apartment.

It took about five minutes at the pace Zeke and Saya were traveling to get to Einnor's place. When they approached the front door to the main lobby, Zeke had looked around for any signs of danger. When he confirmed that they were in the clear, they walked in and went straight up to Einnor's apartment.

"Ok, time to face the music." Zeke put his hand the door knob and turned it. It made an audible click, and the door opened.

When Zeke walked in he heard a gunshot. There was a hole put into the wall by his head. The source was one of Willem's pistols. It was aimed directly at his head.

"Hold it right there Zeke. If you move I'll put a round right between your eyes." Willem put his finger on the trigger. He closed his normal eye, leaving his power eye open.

"Willem. I'm back to normal. I promise." Zeke spoke calmly. He didn't want to provoke Willem. The last thing he needed was his head to be pumped full of bullets. That wouldn't be pleasant at all.

"He's telling the truth. I saw him change back myself." Saya walked through the doorway. She stood in front of Zeke.

"If you say so. You can come out now Einnor." Willem lowered his gun. Einnor became visible right beside Zeke. He put his sword back in its sheath, and composed himself.

"Well, now that the problem is taken care of, it's time to get some answers." Einnor spoke calmly yet sternly at the same time.

"I'll tell you everything I can. It won't be much though." Zeke was completely ok with telling everyone about himself, the parts he remembers anyway.

"Ok. Well let's go sit down in the living room." Einnor motioned for everyone to migrate to the living room. When they got there Willem and Einnor too the chairs, and Zeke and Saya sat on the couch.

"Ok, here is my question. Why haven't you told us about this split personality before?" Willem started asking with no hesitation.

"Well, if I did, you all would think I'm some kind of deranged monster. I don't know what he does when he's in control. I do know, however, that when ever I regain consciousness I'm covered in blood, whether it be my own, or others. I thought I had it under control this time, but I guess I was wrong." Zeke explained. He didn't include much detail, maybe in fear of the reality he might be a monster.

"Ok, here's my question. When you fought Willem at the mall, were you in control?" Einnor asked with a look of curiosity on his face.

"That's tricky. I remember everything that happened, but I didn't feel like myself. It felt like I was borrowing power from the other half of me. I don't know how it happened though." Zeke recalled the fight. He remembered that he was protecting Saya. Perhaps that was the cause.

"How often does this happen?" Willem wanted to know so he could take precautions in advance.

"About once a month I believe. Give or take a few days." Zeke looked at his hands and frowned. He was having a hard coping with his powers.

"Where did you go today?" Einnor asked.

"I went to experiment number fifty's house, and slaughtered her. I don't remember doing so, but from the way the room looked, I have no doubts that I did." Zeke's expression contorted as the image of Emilia's dismembered body popped itself back into his head.

"One more question. Are you scared of your powers? Perhaps the better question would be, are you scared of yourself?" Einnor asked with a dead serious expression. Everyone in the room became wide eyed at the question. They wanted to know the answer, but they didn't want to force Zeke into answering.

Zeke was staring at his hands. He closed his eyes and sobbed once. "Yes. Yes I am. I just don't know if I can be dependable. I am never sure if you guys will be safe around me. I don't want you to get hurt. You guys are all I have. You are my only friends." Zeke started crying. He became overwhelmed by his emotions. He was seriously scared of himself.

Einnor stood up and walked over to Zeke. He out a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Zeke. I'm glad that you think of me as your friend, and as your friend I will try to help, but right now in your condition...how do I put this? You are of no help to us. You need to get over your fear, and meet the monster head on. Only then will you gain control." Einnor spoke softly in a soothing voice. It didn't make Zeke feel any better. He was just told he was pretty much useless.

"I'm going out on the roof. I need to be alone for a while. Come get me when you all are ready to leave and go shopping." Zeke stood up and started walking towards the door. Saya didn't follow him this time. She was giving him his space for a while

Zeke had to find a different way to the roof. The way he took last time was through Einnor's lab. It took him five minutes to find a way to the roof. He didn't think there were so many stairs in the building. Zeke thought they needed to add an elevator.

Zeke opened the door to the roof and went to the same spot he did last time. He sat down and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He looked in the pack.

"Damn, most of them are crushed. Oh well." Zeke pulled out one of the few surviving cigarettes, and put it between his lips. He pulled out his lighter. It took a few tries but it ignited. He lit the tip of the cigarette and took one long inhale, then exhaled. A long stream of gray smoke escaped his lips.

"Can I really stay here? Can I really stay by Saya's side? Or am I too dangerous? I don't know anymore." Zeke closed his eyes and took another draw off of his cigarette.

He sat there thinking. About his future with his friends, his future with Saya. He was debating on whether or not he has a future with them. He was useless at the moment, they don't need him.

" I guess I should just go back to Hell's gates, and live out the rest of two thousand years alone and miserable. At least that way everyone else will be happy." Zeke flicked the ashes off the tip of his cigarette and inhaled another stress relieving stream of smoke.

"Those things will kill you, you know." Zeke turned to see Saya standing by him. He hadn't noticed her walking up for some reason.

"That's good then. I'll be out of your way, and out of your life." Zeke said with a sad smile. He could feel Saya's anger toward that statement.

"Give it to me." Saya put her hand out. She wanted the cigarette. Zeke thought she was going to throw it off the edge. He wasn't going to argue so he gave it to her. What she did next was a surprise. She took a draw off the cigarette. Zeke expected her to cough, but she didn't.

"Menthol? For a bad ass you smoke a bitch made cigarette. I expected you to smoke something, I don't know, stronger." Saya took another draw off the cigarette and passed it back to Zeke.

"I like the flavor. Other cigarettes taste nasty and leave a bad taste in my mouth. Why did you take a hit off it?' Zeke asked curiously.

"I used to smoke too. It relieved the stress of being alone. I quit when I met you, well I quit when you saved me. So its only been a week since I quit. I'll start again if you keep smoking." Saya said with a smile. She was dedicated to Zeke.

"I guess I have to quit then. Damn." Zeke took one last draw off of his cigarette then threw it over the edge. He pulled his pack back out and threw it over too.

"Also, don't ever say your useless again or I'll punch you. You mean the world to me, and I'm not going to let you degrade yourself. If you back to the other side, I'm going with you." Saya was upset Zeke even thought of leaving.

"Alright fine. I'll stay. We should get going we have some shopping to do. We have to get new clothes." Zeke stood up and he had a slight smile on his face.

"Good, I'll let you pick out my bras and panties again." Saya said with a big grin, she had turned away so Zeke didn't see her mischievous smile. Zeke started blushing at the thought.

"Fine, but you will have to tell me what's what this time. I'm clueless when it comes to lingerie." Zeke was still blushing.

"Its a deal then. I have a feeling if I let you pick it'll be something frilly or kinky, perhaps even see through, but I don't mind. If you like it, then I love it." Saya turned around and faced Zeke with a big smile.

Zeke stopped dead in his tracks. Saya was smiling a lewd smile. She was unusually captivating.

Saya started walking towards Zeke, he backed away one step because had no clue what she was doing, until she grabbed his head by the cheeks and pulled him down. She pushed her lips to his. After a second she pulled away and cupped her chin with her thumb and index finger. She let out an audibly noise of curiosity. She was thinking about something.

"Uhh, what was that for?" Zeke asked, a little dumbfounded by her actions.

"Just a test. Nothing to worry about." Saya smiled and turned around. She started to walk towards the door.

"Test for what?" Zeke asked as he kept pace with Saya.

"I want to see what it takes to get your blood boiling with lust. It just seems like you have complete control over your urges. That is very rare. Zeke I'm only going to ask you this once." Saya stopped again and turned to Zeke. "What turns you on the most?"

"What?! Uh, I don't know. I've never had to think about it." Zeke became flustered. He wondered how the situation turned the way it did.

"Come on you have to have some clue. Tell me. What ever you want me to do, I'll do it. You just have to tell me." Saya put her hand on Zeke's chest.

"Sorry I don't. I really want to wait until this affair with Cred is over." Zeke stated calmly.

"Fine. Well let's go. We shouldn't keep Willem and Einnor waiting." Saya turned and walked through the door to the apartment building.

"Yeah." Zeke could have sworn he saw Saya pouting. This was going to be a long day.


	9. Chapter 9

Zeke and Saya walked into Einnor's apartment. They saw Willem and Einnor sitting in the living room watching the television. They were quiet, not a word was spoken.

Zeke walked over and broke the silence. "Its still day time. We can still go shopping."

"Zeke, you are gonna want to see this." Willem spoke with a slight tinge of shock in his voice.

"What is it?" Zeke asked curiously as he walked over. He took a quick look at the television. He was shocked at what he saw. One of the gates on the wall was opened, and there was a line of Cleaners walking in to the other side. Each one had a number on their uniform. They must have been the experiments. Azazel and Juggernaut weren't there, so that left a total of forty four experiments on the loose in Hell's Gates.

"This is madness. Who would've thought Cred would act so drastically." Einnor spoke with a dread filled expression.

"We have to get back to Hell's Gates. For whatever reason they are going over there, it can't be good. I never would have thought, that I would willingly go back the that shit hole, but I guess I have no choice." Zeke spoke calmly, yet sternly. He needed to find out why he was releasing the experiments into the other side.

"Ok, I can get us there, but it would be difficult and tiring on my part. I can teleport a group of people, but for every extra person, the distance I can teleport is cut in half. Before I could teleport fifteen kilometers in one go, but with three extra people I could barely go above three and a half kilometers. It would take three teleports to get over the wall. I would be exhausted. " Einnor spoke, now just as determined as Zeke.

"Once we get over the wall, I know of a few safe spots that are hidden pretty well. We could rest there." Zeke had finally found something that could make him useful to the others, he didn't need his powers.

"Ok, now that that's settled, we need to pack up and get going." Willem said as he swiftly ran up the stairs. He went into his room to get his weapons.

"Good idea, we head out in ten minutes." Einnor went to his room as well. He was getting all of the materials he needed ready.

"Alright." Zeke sat on the couch. He started thinking about all the possible reasons Cred could have for sending all of his experiments to the other side. It didn't make sense.

"Aren't you going to get ready?" Saya asked curiously.

"I already am. My weapons are inside of me. I don't have anything extra I need to get."

"That's not what I meant. I know you are ready physically, but what about mentally? Can you use your powers again, knowing you will possibly lose control again? Perhaps you would prefer to remain scared of yourself the rest of your life." Saya bent over and rested her arms on the back of the couch.

"No I don't Saya, but my power has hurt so many people, and caused others to fear me. With power like that, I don't know if I'll ever get over it. I just don't know." Zeke looked down at his hands. He was truly scared of himself. Not knowing how long he could remain in control.

"I didn't know I fell in love with a coward. If I remember right, you were less of a coward when you were seven, than you are now. At least when you were seven, you weren't scared to go into a fight you know you were going to lose. You took the beating, and moved on in life." Saya turned and sat on the back of the couch. She was looking at Zeke, straight into his wavering eyes.

"That was a long time ago. Before I was immortal, before I knew I had powers. Things are different now." Zeke was staring into Saya's emerald green eyes. They were cold and determining.

"The only thing different, is that you're stronger now."

"Am I really? Am I really that strong? So strong that I have no reason to be scared? I don't believe that. Without my fear, without my feelings, I wouldn't be human. I would be some cold blooded monster that lives to fight. I don't want that. That's why I cling to my fear, it makes me feel human. It makes me feel normal."

"We're through. Until you can get over your fear of yourself, we're done. Don't talk to me until then." Saya stood up and started to walk up the stairs.

"Saya! Wait!" Zeke was desperate to get her attention back. He didn't want this too happen. He didn't enjoy the stabbing feeling in his heart.

"Ya' know Zeke, I sometimes think about what my life would be like right now if I had been raped by those men, and you actually ignored me. I would probably be sold to someone and be their sex slave, being fucked senseless everyday, then they would probably let their friends have a turn. I am truly grateful that you came to save me, but the way you are now, you are weak. Just know that I will always love you. Zeke." Saya stopped mid sentence and walked up the stairs. She ignored the pleas coming from Zeke's mouth.

"That's fucked up. I never would have pegged you as that kind of girl." Willem was leaning on the wall in front of her, he was strapped with his guns and his sniper rifle was on his back. He had apparently heard everything.

"Shut up Willem. I'm not in the mood." Saya walked past, but Willem grabbed her arm and slammed her against the wall. She grunted at the impact.

"You listen, and you listen good. He doesn't deserve that kind of treatment. He's been through way too much to be practically abandoned by his reason for living. If he loses control again you won't be safe. You probably just triggered a change." Willem was stern with Saya but her expression didn't change.

"That's what I'm hoping for. If I can talk to Other again. I can get down to the source of Zeke's fears. Maybe Other could help too. He seems devoted to Zeke. If anyone can help, its him." Saya spoke with an unwavering expression. She was positive her plan would work.

"You better know what you're doing. If this plan goes sour, and he does lose control, I will kill him. Just remember that." Willem walked down stairs. He saw Zeke on the couch. He looked as if he were hit by a truck. His expression was lifeless. Saya sighed and walked into her and Zeke's room.

Willem walked over to the couch, and stood in front of Zeke. Zeke looked up at Willem, his eyes were sad and mournful. Willem thought he looked pitiful. He couldn't stand people that looked like that. They annoyed him to no ends.

"I'm pathetic. I can't do anything right. It must be my fate to stay alone forever. I just always fuck everything up. I'm more trouble than I'm worth." Zeke was putting himself down. It made him feel bad, but relieved at the same time.

"She lied you know. All she wants is to talk to Other. She is trying to help you, but I think the way she is doing it is wrong." Willem spoke up. He couldn't let Zeke wallow in self pity right before an important mission.

"What?!" Zeke was shocked that Saya would do something like this.

"Next time you get the chance, let Other take control, but keep him on a leash. If you don't, I'll be forced to do something drastic. I don't want to, but I will." Willem was serious. If he had to, he would kill Zeke.

"I understand. When we make it to the other side, I'll let him take control. Just long enough to talk to her." Zeke stood up and walked out of the apartment. Willem thought he was going back to the roof for a second time today.

"It's best we get moving." Einnor had walked down the stairs. He was clad in light armor with two katanas on his back. Saya had just walked up behind him.

"Yeah. Let's go. The sooner we get over there, the better." Willem walked over to the door and opened it. Sitting outside in the hallway, was Zeke. His head was between his knees, and at first it seemed like he was sleeping, but he stood up.

"You ready?" Willem asked.

"As I'll ever be."

"Well then let's go." Einnor spoke as he walked past Willem and Zeke. He walked up the stairs and the others followed.

It took the group a few minutes to get to the roof of the building. When they got there, they stood near the edge facing the wall.

"It really is a huge change between the two hemispheres. What could have caused the event that destroyed that side of the world?" Saya spoke with a sense of hurt and discomfort in her voice.

"Even I don't know that. It seems impossible, even for an organization like Ouroboros. That leads me to believe it was a natural occurrence. I guess from a religious point of view, it could be God's way of punishing us. We tried to be perfect, when we weren't meant to be." Einnor said with a surprising seriousness.

"You can take that religious bullshit and shove it. I don't believe in God, or any religion. In my eyes, religion is just a way to escape your problems by blaming some false profit, or evil deity for all the worlds problems. It is just a false comfort that humans believe in so they don't feel guilty for causing harm to the world." Saya spoke with disgust at the thought of religion. She didn't believe in it because of the fact that no one ever came to save her, or help her in her time of need and anguish. The only person she could ever believe in, was Zeke. For all Saya cared, Zeke was her God.

"That's very narrow minded. It may be true, but people need that false sense of security to feel safe. It makes things easier for them to bear. Well, we've wasted enough time talking. We need to get going." Einnor was in a hurry. The more time they spent talking, the more difficult it would be to counter the enemies.

"Very well. Let's go." Saya agreed to end the conversation. They wouldn't get anywhere if she kept going with the topic.

Einnor grabbed Zeke and Willem by the arm, and Saya grabbed Zeke's, then they teleported to the wall. Then after a few seconds they teleported again to the top of a building in Hell's Gates.

"Ok, we are here. Man that was exhausting." Einnor was out of breath. His hands were on his knees and he was taking deep, long, drawn out breaths.

"So, where are we going to hide out until Einnor gets some rest?" Willem asked.

"I was planning on going back to the mall where you tried to kill me. They know we aren't dumb, so they think we wouldn't go back there. So it makes sense to hide there, and even if there are enemies there, the mall is so vast, we could hide in plain sight. In my opinion, its our safest bet." Zeke explained as he looked around. He was trying to find the quickest root to the mall.

"I agree. In a place that big, it should be easy to hide. Let's get going." Einnor said with labored breathes.

"Ok then. Let's head out." Zeke walked over to the edge of the building they were on. He found the ladder that lead to the ground. "Now be careful. The ladders around here aren't too sturdy." Zeke said as he jumped off the edge and landed on the ground.

Saya walked over to the ladder and nudged it with her foot. It creaked a little bit under the pressure of her foot. "Seems safe enough." Saya started descending the ladder. Then Willem, then Einnor. The ladder held up, surprisingly.

"This way. We are about a ten minute walk from the mall. If we hurry we could get there in five." Zeke started running towards the general direction of the mall. The others followed, but were having a hard time keeping up. Zeke was surprisingly fast.

Zeke stopped dead in his tracks and darted into a nearby ally. The others followed suit and asked why he stopped. He pointed in front of them. He had seen s couple of the experiments up ahead. They were asking around for directions. They even showed a picture of Zeke, and asked where he would go if he was in trouble. It was a good thing no one on this side cared about Zeke. None of the people they asked had a clue where Zeke would go.

"Good luck trying to find someone who keeps track of me you dumb asses. Let's go, we can cut through this ally." Zeke started running down the ally and took a right turn. The others followed. There were lots of twists and turns in the back allies.

At the pace that the group was going, they got to the mall with time to spare. Zeke walked up to the side door. It was still unlocked from the last time he had been there.

"Welcome to my domain." Zeke gestured around the mall. Once everyone was inside he looked out the door and made sure they weren't followed. He then closed and locked the door.

"It seems a little too flashy for someone like you." Einnor spoke. He was again bent over and breathing hard.

"I like it. Now time to show you where we can rest. Follow me." Zeke lead the group to the furniture store he used to sleep in. He went over to one of the shelves and pulled off a few packs of sheets and covers. He tossed them to the others.

"You gotta be comfortable. Once you get your bed arranged, you should get some rest. I'll keep watch and make sure nothing happens." The others agreed and within five minutes they had their beds ready and were asleep in them.

Zeke walked out of the furniture store and looked around the vast mall. He was taking rounds, making sure no one was around. He spotted the spa and walked over to it. He looked at the entrance for a second and walked in. The first place he went to was the showers. He walked over to the hole in the wall Willem left when they first met.

"Its hard to believe it's only been few days since that happened. Now Willem is your trusted ally." Saya had followed Zeke to the spa. She spoke with a sense of nostalgia in her voice.

"You should be asleep." Zeke's words were dead and mechanical. It was as if he reverted back to his old self.

"I want to talk to Other again." Saya countered, her tone more serious.

"Fine." Zeke didn't argue like Saya thought he would. Zeke closed his eyes, and when he opened them back up, they were glowing. "What do you want girl?" Zeke had gave Other control. His voice was cold and malicious.

"I want to know why Zeke is so scared of himself. Is his power so great, that it is reason enough for him to be scared?" Saya didn't hesitate to ask what was on her mind.

"You don't realize how close you are to the answer. Well to give you a fair answer, yes it is. Zeke doesn't remember, but he was the one who destroyed the eastern hemisphere."

"What!? That's impossible! Zeke may be powerful, but not that powerful. You would have to have the power of a god to pull that off! Which is impossible!" Saya had been consumed by utter disbelief at what Other said. She couldn't believe Zeke would, or could do something like that.

"Believe what you like, but that's the truth. Zeke may have lost his memories, but I didn't. It all started because of an old lady. She had white hair like Zeke's and eyes just as red. She told him it was time to wake up. Then in that split second, Zeke's true power emerged, but that kind of power comes at a price. That price being all of his happy memories. He forgot about everything that made him happy. The population of the eastern hemisphere was cut down by ninety percent, in mere seconds. Luckily, his adoptive parents, and you, survived. Who would have thought, an eight year old. Could have that kind of power? I have no doubt, that if he were to unleash that power again, he would destroy the entire world. I know you may not believe what I'm about to say, but I'm the only reason he hasn't been able to unleash it. I keep his power in check, unbeknownst to him." Other had explained the events of that day. Saya was wide eyed in fear. She couldn't process the fact, that Zeke was the cause of so much misery.

"So Zeke, practically annihilated, half of the world. I fell in love with the very person, who made so many peoples lives miserable." Saya had fallen to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes. She was in complete shock.

"Yes, and believe it or not, the day of Armageddon, may be closer than you think. I have noticed an increase in his power lately. He is getting stronger and I can't stop it. Pretty soon, he will be able to overcome my seal on his power, and then boom. The whole world is gone."

"Is there anyway to stop it?" Saya asked, her voice fragile and lifeless.

"If he were to learn how to control it, then maybe. He needs you now more than ever, however, he must not know that I told you any of this. It would only make things worse. Here are my final words of advice to you. You are the only one that could possibly help him control this hellish power of his, so stay close to him, comfort him, and never leave him." Others tone had softened a bit. In a way, he could sympathize with Saya. It couldn't be easy to accept what he just told her.

"Of course I will. He is the love of my life. He is my everything, and nothing will ever change that." Saya had stood up with a look of new found determination on her face.

Other couldn't help but crack a smile. He was starting to like Saya. She was as close to Zeke as he was.

Other's expression changed when he sensed two sources of power near by. "Someone is here, and they're not friendly. We need to exterminate them, before they blow our cover." Other had manifested claws that looked similar to Zeke's, but they were bigger and a deeper shade of black.

"Really?! Now of all times!" Saya had turned and faced the entrance to the spa. Two people had come walking up to the entrance. They looked to be twins. They had black hair and blue eyes. One was male, the other female.

"Nice to meet you mister Zeke, my name is Michelle and I am experiment number six. Now we didn't come to fight you. Our reason here is completely different. We came to Hell's Gates, looking for experiment negative one. You see, we have reports that he escaped from his holding cell, and headed over here. So it would be nice if we could hold off on the fighting until the time comes Master Cred wants you dead." The female spoke formally. She had a soft and gentle.

"I am experiment number seven. I am Michelle's brother, Charles. She speaks the truth. We did not come to hunt you. If it pleases you, we will let no one know of your whereabouts, but we are lead to believe that negative one is hunting you down. It is his sole objective." Charles had a similar accent to his sister.

Other undid his energy claws. He was going to play along and act like Zeke, so he could pull some info out of these two. Saya noticed, and decided not to say anything.

"Very well. I have a question. What makes you think you can capture negative one? He is supposed to be stronger than me, and the power I sense off of you two pales in comparison to mine. Are you suppressing your power so he doesn't sense you coming?" Other was asking because he wanted to gauge the enemy the best he could.

"No we are not suppressing it, but what makes us so dangerous, is how well me and my sisters powers work together. If we fight together we can't lose." Charles spoke proudly of himself, as well as his sister.

"Fine then, you may continue your search, but try not to get us involved." Other had shooed them off, and they obliged. They walked towards the exit to the mall.

"That was close. So it turns out that genetic copy of Zeke is running amuck." Saya had rubbed her forehead. At some point of the conversation she had started sweating.

"It's about time I let Zeke have control back. I'll talk to you some other time." Other was about to close his eyes and give control back to Zeke, when Saya interrupted him.

"Wait, before you go, what's your real name?" Saya had asked, a curious look on her face.

"It's Zekeuv. Zeke gave it too me when we were still at the Ouroboros lab."

"I think it's a nice name." Saya had smiled, which caused Zekeuv to smile. He closed his eyes, and let Zeke take control.

When Zeke opened his eyes, he was met with a smile from Saya. "So I guess, you got all the information you wanted out of him?" Zeke had asked, a little upset that she talked to Zekeuv.

"That, and then some. Let's go back to the furniture store. We need to get some sleep." Saya had grabbed Zeke's hand and pulled him all the way back to the furniture store.

When they got to their desired location, Saya pushed Zeke onto her bed, and forced him to lay down. She then laid beside him, and fell asleep. Zeke was confused by her actions, but he went along with it and put an arm over Saya.

"I guess she found out what she wanted to know. It's good to have my Saya back." Zeke whispered to himself, and fell asleep. He had yet another dream of his past.


	10. Chapter 10

Zeke was still dreaming about his past. He wondered why he was having these dreams. He thought it was because he met Saya, but he wasn't sure.

Zeke's dream was about a time long ago, when he was with Saya. He had just turned eight and was out having a good time with Saya. The current date was December 24, 2031.

Saya and Zeke were currently out walking around the neighborhood. There was a lot of snow on the ground, and it was still snowing. It was cold enough to where they needed to wear layers.

"So Saya, what do you want to do now? It is my birthday, we should do something fun." Zeke said with a toothy grin.

"Let's go to the park and make a snowman. While we are walking, I want to talk about you. Where you're from. Why you don't look like your parents, and all sorts of other things." Saya said happily. She wanted to get to know Zeke, much more than she did at the moment.

After he heard what Saya had to say, Zeke stopped dead in his tracks, all the faint memories suddenly becoming so clear. The memories of the lab where he was tested on, poked and prodded with needles and strange machines everyday. He couldn't help but start crying at the mortifying memories, and Saya noticed.

"Why are you crying Zeke? It's your birthday, cheer up!" Saya had wrapped both her arms around one of his. He instantly wiped the tears away from his face and smiled, which in turn, caused Saya to smile.

"No reason, I'm just happy I get to spend my birthday with you." Zeke pushed the thoughts of the experimentation, far into the depths of his mind.

"Thanks, now we better get going if we want to make a snow man." Saya started pulling Zeke by the arm.

It took the couple five minutes to get to the park. When they got there, they were met by hateful gazes from the other kids. They were mainly directed towards Zeke. He ignored them, and took Saya to a secluded corner of the playground.

"Those other kids really don't like you, do they?" Saya looked at the others, then back at Zeke. He was busy starting on the base of the snowman.

"I guess not. It's probably because I look different from them." Zeke spoke, but was still focusing on the snowman. He didn't want to look over and see the hateful glares.

"I'm sorry Zeke. I knew there would be other kids at the playground, and I made you come along anyway." Saya was becoming depressed as the situation progressed. Zeke wasn't smiling, he was frowning, and packing the snow furiously.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Help me with the snowman." Zeke rolled a big ball of snow towards Saya. It was the base of the snowman.

"You have the bottom done, now all we need is the middle and top." Saya said as she started packing snow.

Pretty soon Saya had the middle of the snowman done. It took only six minutes, so she decided to wait for Zeke to get back to do the top. Zeke had gone off looking for sticks and rocks for the body parts. It had been ten minutes since she last saw Zeke, and she was getting worried.

Saya felt better when she saw Zeke walk up with some sticks and small pebbles. He was badly bruised, and his arm was bleeding profusely.

"What happened Zeke? You're bleeding." Saya asked worriedly. Everywhere Zeke seemed to go, he got injured.

"Nothing, I tripped and fell on a pile of sticks. I'm fine. Let's finish the snowman." Zeke lied because he didn't want Saya to worry. He couldn't let her know that he ran into some of the bullies from school.

"Ok. We need to get the head done. Then we can put on the face." Saya picked up some snow and started packing it. Zeke picked up some as well. The blood from his wound stained the snow around him.

"I guess I can't help. We don't want a red snowman. I guess I'll start decorating him." Saya had just finished the head and put it at the top of the snow man. The body was finished, so Zeke put two sticks in each side of the mid section. Then he started to put pebbles on the head to make the face.

"It looks beautiful Zeke. Thanks for bringing me with you. I have an idea. Let's have a snowball fight now." Saya picked up some snow, and was about to throw it, when She was interrupted by a voice that came from behind her.

"Saya! What have I told you about hanging around this delinquent?! You're coming home now!" Saya's father had walked up and saw Saya playing with Zeke.

"But daddy, It's Zeke's birthday. I didn't want him to be alone." Saya had retorted against her father, which earned her a swift smack to the face. She fell down, and Zeke stepped in front of her.

"Stop! Now! I won't let you beat Saya. She doesn't deserve it." Zeke stood strong against Saya's father.

Saya was still on the ground, sniffling and sobbing. She looked up at Zeke, and she noticed how broad his shoulders were. She couldn't help but blush.

"Get out of my way! You disgusting freak of nature! You have no right to tell me what my daughter deserves and what she doesn't." Saya's father took a step towards Saya, but Zeke stood in his way again.

"I said no!" Zeke stood firm. He wasn't going to back down. He took the beatings from the bullies, because he knew he would still have Saya afterword, but if her father had his way, he would make sure he never got to see her again. Zeke wouldn't let that happen, because Saya was all he really had.

Saya's father raised a fist and punched Zeke in the face, but he didn't move. He just took the hit and looked right back at Saya's father, as if the punch never fazed him.

"So you think you're a tough little shit don't you?" Saya's father grabbed Zeke by the hair and punched him again, then threw him into the nearby fence. At this point everyone in the playground was watching. Mothers were covering their kids eyes, and fathers were just shaking they're heads in disapproval.

Zeke stood up and returned to his previous position in front of Saya. His nose had started bleeding, but he still looked on with unwavering determination.

"Why don't you stay down?!" Saya's father asked angrily.

"Because, I won't let you take Saya. I've dealt with worse than you. This is nothing compared to the beatings I get from the bullies at school." Zeke had raised his fists in a defensive stance. He was willing to fight, even though he detested it.

"You actually think you could win in a fight against me? That's a laugh. You're nothing but a snot nosed brat that needs to learn his place." Saya's father charged at Zeke. He blocked the initial hit and returned a vicious fury of strikes to his stomach, but to no avail. He wasn't strong enough to hurt Saya's behemoth of a father, however, that didn't stop Zeke from trying.

"I won't let you take Saya. You'll have to kill me first." Zeke stopped punching Saya's father and took a step back. He was still in a defensive stance.

"That can be arranged." Saya's father cracked his knuckles and they made a wicked popping sound. He pulled his fist back in preparation to hit Zeke, but Saya jumped in front of her outmatched companion.

"I'm sorry daddy. I'll come home. Just don't hurt Zeke anymore." Saya turned to face Zeke. Tears were flowing out of her eyes and down her pale face. "Goodbye Zeke, and sorry." Saya grabbed her father's hand and started pulling him away. He turned to look at Zeke.

"If I ever find out that you have been around my daughter after this, I will kill you. That's a promise freak." Saya's dad turned and walked Saya out of the park.

Zeke had become weak and fell to his knees. He started crying and everyone else in the park had stopped what they were doing to stare at the poor boy. They weren't stares of sympathy though. No, they were stares of disgust and confusion. They could care less about what had happened to Zeke.

"What are you all staring at!?" Zeke had snapped at the other occupants of the play ground. They flinched and looked away.

Zeke stood up and left the park. He just started walking in a random direction. He didn't care where he went anymore. Without Saya it was meaningless. He lost track of time and before Zeke knew it, it was midnight. He had been walking all day. After a minute passed he spoke.

"Merry Christmas Saya." The tears he had been holding back for the longest time came flooding out. He thought he was alone until he heard a raspy voice come from somewhere behind him. He turned to see an old lady, but she wasn't normal. She had white hair and red eyes just like him.

"What troubles you young one?" The old lady had a raspy but gentle voice.

"Nothing. I'm just spending Christmas alone, without any friends." Zeke spoke and more tears came crawling out of Zeke's tear ducts.

"You don't need friends or companions, for you are apart of a strong and proud people." The old lady had confused Zeke.

"What do you mean?" Zeke had asked, but the old lady only put a hand on Zeke's head.

"It's time to wake up little one."

Zeke had quickly jumped up out of his slumber. He was covered in sweat. He was wondering if the dream he had was just a dream or an actual memory. He looked up at the skylight and saw that it was still dark outside. He looked over at Saya. She was still sound asleep, so Zeke decided not to wake her up to talk. He instead decided to go for a walk through the mall.

Zeke looked at all the abandoned stores, with stuff still left in them from when they were abandoned during the event. He saw a vending machine nearby. Zeke walked up to it then pulled out a small ring of keys. Once he found the key to the vending machine, he opened it up and took out a drink. Zeke closed the machine and walked off in a random direction.

Zeke pulled the tab on the drink and it made an audible hissing sound. He gave the tab one more pull then the drink opened. He took one sip before he looked around.

"This mall really is big. If you didn't know your way around, you could easily get lost." Zeke spoke to himself and took another drink.

"Now I beg to differ. It was extremely easy finding you with all that excess energy your putting off." A voice came from behind Zeke. It sounded malicious and wicked.

Zeke quickly turned around to see a red haired boy with piercing green eyes, that looked to be the same age as him. Zeke noticed that the boy looked eerily similar to himself. The sudden realization that this boy was Negative one.

"How did you know I was here?! If you know what's good for you, you'd leave right now!" Zeke tried to threaten Negative one, but all he got in return was a wicked smile.

"What makes you think I would listen to you? I'm stronger than you! I listen to no one!" Negative one charged at Zeke.

Zeke through his drink down and tried dodging Negative one's attack, but he wasn't fast enough and his arm was caught by Negative one. Negative one started squeezing Zeke's arm with force that no human should have. After a moment Zeke heard a crack, then an extreme pain shot through his arm.

"Ah. Doesn't this just take you down memory lane. You're in the same situation your adoptive mother was in. Let's see if we can make it end the same. Hahaha!" Negative one cackled and squeezed Zeke's arm harder.

"Aaaghhh! You son of a bitch! How dare you talk about that! You know nothing about my past!" Zeke couldn't help but fall to his knees. The pain was too much.

"To the contrary. I know all about your past. Mainly because I'm meant to be a genetic copy of you. They implanted me with all your memories. Now I know what you're thinking. How did they manage to do that, when I left the organization when I was five? Well I'll tell you. They've been spying on you Zeke. They've watched you grow. They know everything you do, including the things you don't remember. Like the fact that you're the one who destroyed half the world! Hahaha!"

"What the hell?! That's impossible! You're lying!" Zeke tried getting his broken arm free, but every time he moved, Negative one would squeeze harder.

"Oh really? Then why don't you ask that hot piece of ass you carry around with you. You're other half told her exactly what I just told you. He seemed to serious to be lying." Negative one provoked Zeke, which in turn, caused him to struggle more.

"You're lying! Saya would have told me after talking to him! " Zeke mustered up enough strength to pull his arm away, but the force from the pull that set him free, pulled the bones in his arm farther apart.

"Believe what you want. The only thing you need to know is that I'm going to kill you now. It's what I was created for after all." Negative one lunged at Zeke.

Zeke manifested his claws and tried blocking the blow with his one good arm, but to his surprise, the energy covering his arm dissipated and was absorbed into Negative one's skin. The blow connected with Zeke's left cheek, causing him to double over in pain. It felt as if his jaw had been ran over by a bull dozer.

"You dumbass! Did you forget that I absorb energy! I was created to be the exact opposite of you! You create energy, I absorb it and get stronger! It's really simple! You. Can't. Win!" Negative one mocked Zeke. Daring him to get angry and lose control.

Meanwhile, back at the furniture store, Saya had woken up due to all the noise. She moved her hand over to grab Zeke's only to realize he wasn't there. This sent Saya into a panic. She quickly woke Willem and Einnor up.

"Come on! We need to hurry! I think Zeke might be in trouble!" Saya had become so flustered to the point that she couldn't think about anything but Zeke and what kind of trouble he might be in.

"Alright! We're ready! Let's go!" Einnor had dashed out of the store to see if he could somehow figure out where Zeke went.

"Do you have anything?" Willem spoke his twin pistols in hand.

"I know where he is come on!" Saya ran past Willem and Einnor. She didn't know how or why, but for some reason, she felt as if she knew exactly where Zeke would be.

Willem and Einnor didn't question it and followed Saya. Saya would make random turns, which made it difficult for Willem and Einnor to keep up, but they managed.

"We need to hurry! I don't think we have much time!" Saya had made one last turn, and what she saw, was the worst thing that could ever happen to her.

Right in front of Saya, a man with red hair, had his hand pierced through Zeke's chest. It went clean through Zeke's back, and in the mans grasp, was Zeke's heart, still beating even though it was no longer in his body.

"Oh, I'm so glad you made it in time for the grand finale. This is the part where Zeke dies a painful and agonizing death. Hahaha!" Negative one cackled, then in one swift motion removed his arm from Zeke's chest, and along with it, came Zeke's heart. Negative one let go of Zeke's coat collar and let him fall to the ground.

"..." Saya turned pale. She tried screaming but no words came out. Willem and Einnor had just arrived when Zeke's heart was ripped out of his chest. They were as pale as Saya, and just as speechless.

"Ah! That was fun! Killing Zeke was a blast! Hahaha! It was easy! All I had to do was mention the name Saya, and his parents, and he completely lost his cool." Negative one spoke as if he just got done playing with a new toy.

"You bastard!" Saya became enraged, then out of nowhere her body bursted into fierce red flames. Her eyes went from green to to a burning bright red. She looked at her hands in surprise.

"Saya you're on fire!" Willem was finally able to speak. He couldn't believe what he just saw. Saya's body bursted into flames out of thin air.

"It couldn't be! You're.." Einnor spoke but was cut off by Negative one.

"The elusive experiment number two. The Phoenix Blossom. Master of flames. Who would have thought the second strongest experiment would be here?" Negative one spoke as if he were truly intrigued by this turn of events.

"I am experiment number two? How is that even possible?" Saya couldn't stop staring at her hands that were now shrouded in red flames.

"There's no time to worry about that! If we hurry we might still be able to save Zeke!" Einnor teleported to Zeke. Negative one didn't take kindly to this and tried to strike at at Einnor, but his hand was burnt to a crisp before he could even touch him.

"What?!" Negative one looked at Saya. She had managed to launch a fireball at Negative one's hand.

"I'll do what I can here. Just get Zeke back to your apartment as soon as you can and take care of him!" Saya had her hand pointed at Negative one.

"Understood." Einnor had teleported out of the mall and left the fighting to Willem and Saya. He had to hurry back to his apartment and do what he can to keep Zeke remotely alive.

"You bitch! That was my prey! I was gonna have his head mounted on the wall in my cell! Now you're gonna pay!" Negative one lunged at Saya but was stopped by two bullets to the chest.

"Stay right there! Don't make another move, or else the next two will be in your skull!" Willem moved in front of Saya.

"Thanks for the backup." Saya thanked Willem for his help and pointed her fiery hand at Negative one.

"You think that will stop me? I've already absorbed enough energy from Zeke to gain his healing powers, but I'm in no mood to fight. I'll let you go just this once. " Negative one's wounds had already healed by the time he was done talking. He turned around and leaped through a hole in the ceiling of the mall.

"Glad that's over. Now all we have to do is wait here for Einnor to come back and get us." Willem holstered his guns and sat down on the floor.

"Yeah..." Saya sat down as well but her expression was anything but calm.

"Don't worry Saya. Aside from Cred, Einnor is the smartest person I've met. He'll find a way to keep Zeke alive until we find a permanent solution. You just got to have faith." Willem reassured Saya with a gentle smile and soothing words.

"You're right." Saya agreed and smiled as well.

Willem and Saya sat at the mall for over six hours. The sun had came up and it started snowing. The air quickly dropped to a freezing temperature. Every breath they made was clearly visible.

"How cold is it Willem? I know that watch on your wrist tells more than just the time." Saya spoke shivering. She had managed to douse her fire powers, but now she was wishing she hadn't, and she can't figure out how to use them again.

Willem checked his watch and spoke. "It's negative one below zero, or as I like to call it, way too cold." Willem smiled a little bit, and Saya giggled a little bit at the joke Willem tried to make.

All of a sudden, a flash of light appeared in front of them, and Einnor emerged.

"He's alive."


End file.
